Writing

At Springfield, we develop confident and creative writers. From their first steps in our Early Years to the end of Key Stage 2, children learn to write accurately and effectively for a range of audiences and purposes. We ensure every child leaves us with a strong sense of the way in which they are empowered to use their voice and express themselves in writing.

Our writing curriculum ensures that children develop both their transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing). Across our writing curriculum, a range of purposes for writing are sequenced so that children make progress in different styles of writing (for example narrative writing, informative writing and persuasive writing.) Writing units span two weeks focusing on a particular type of writing, with an outcome achieved each week. This structure ensures children have time to refine and embed their writing based on feedback and responsive teaching.

Our writing cycle ensures children are taught how to generate ideas, plan, draft, edit and improve their writing and to

1. immersion; discussing and investigating the features of the genre and generating ideas for writing:
2. organising and planning their own writing
3. drafting
4. editing and continuing a draft based on feedback
5. improving a target based on feedback

We value oracy as an important component of writing. In each unit of writing, carefully planned and structured talk lays the foundation for writing tasks. In Key Stage 1, we draw on the Talk for Writing approach to develop children’s narrative writing. Through discussion of ideas and the rehearsal of key sentence structures and vocabulary in context, talk is a key part of each writing unit from EYFS to Year 6.

Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling

The teaching of spelling, punctuation and grammar is embedded within reading and writing lessons so that children learn these skills and use them in context. Explicit teaching of grammar and punctuation in meaningful contexts is a core component of our writing cycle. Our curriculum is carefully sequenced to ensure that children build a secure understanding of grammatical features and learn to apply them effectively in a range of contexts.

In Key Stage 1, spelling is a focus of Phonics, which is taught using the Read Write Inc programme. In Key Stage 2, we follow the rigorously sequenced No Nonsense spelling programme.

To see how you can help your child, click on the links below to see the spelling, punctuation and grammar guidance for each year group:

Handwriting

As a school, we know that writing down ideas fluently depends on effective transcription so handwriting is taught frequently in short handwriting lessons.  Our teachers spend time explicitly teaching and modelling handwriting across the school and children are given regular opportunities to revise and practise correct letter formation. In the Early Years, our children begin this journey by mark making and drawing patterns, which develops their fine motor skills. This develops through our EYFS with ensuring correct pencil grip by the children when they begin to make letters and string letters together to make words. As soon as they can form letters securely with the correct orientation, usually as they enter Year 1, we begin teaching continuous cursive script. We continue to teach handwriting as the children progress from Key Stage 1 to 2 with the aim of increasing the fluency with which children are able to write down what they want to say.