Be yourself.  Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.

- John Jakes

Writing Lead - Mrs Fleming

At St. Joseph’s, we encourage children, to write creatively and independently for different purposes.  In each year group, we teach writing skills using a variety of high quality, engaging texts through our writing sequence.  Film literacy is also used to engage and stimulate creative writing.  We have a focus on learning and exploring new vocabulary through our texts and our spelling scheme.  We deliver teaching of grammar in context and discrete spelling sessions with an understanding of the progression across key stages. 

How writing is taught: 

As we have mixed age classes in Key Stage 1 and Lower Key Stage 2, writing topics are taught on a two-year cycle.  Teachers plan together, taking into account the interests of the children and their individual needs.  Writing is taught daily, with time to plan, write and edit in order to improve.   Grammar is taught in context within the writing sequence.  We use the Scode spelling scheme in KS2 which is etymology enriched and phonics-based spelling. 

How writing is assessed: 

The Teacher Assessment Frameworks are used at the end of KS1 and KS2 to assess the children’s writing in years 2 and 6.  In year 1, 3, 4 and 5 we use similar tick sheets to assess writing and ensure that gaps are filled throughout the year.  Feedback is given during each English lesson and children are able to act on that to improve their writing. 

How can you support your children at home? 

Each half term, your child will bring home a newsletter explaining what they will be learning in their English lessons. Talk to them about the books they are reading in class.  The more a child reads, the more ideas, vocabulary and inspiration they have for their writing.  Encourage your child to write for pleasure at home, it could be a shopping list, a story, instructions for one of their games, a diary.  Ask them to use the skills they have learnt that day in their English lesson.