Writing

Intent

The English curriculum is designed to embed a life-long love of reading, language and communication, developing literacy skills through the use of high-quality rich texts and a breadth of topics that inspire and excite young  writers. We nurture a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly, imaginatively and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and to use discussion to communicate and further their learning in all areas of the curriculum.

Implementation

At Mitchell Brook, writing is taught using a three-stage process: ignite, imitate, innovate. Within the Ignite stage, pupils explore a text, with the aim of developing vocabulary and identifying ideas and structures (both language and grammatical features) that can be used in their own writing. Grammar lessons are taught explicitly to develop the skills needed to improve the coherence and quality of pupils’ writing in line with the National Curriculum outcomes. Oracy is very much at the heart of these first two stages, where speaking and listening activities, including drama, oral rehearsal, debate, and discussion, are key factors in pupils building the literacy skills needed to become excellent writers. 

Implementation

Spelling is taught using Spelling Shed, focusing on developing pupils’ phonetic understanding and spelling accuracy through:

• Orthography – how patterns of letters are used to make spoken sounds. Children build upon the firm foundations established while studying phonics, and continue to break down spellings into units of sound.
• Morphology – how words are structured into parts (prefixes, suffixes, root words) to give meaning. Children study words, word parts, their meanings, and how this affects spelling.
• Etymology – the origins of words, which can lead to certain patterns of spelling 

How can you help at home?

Create a place for your child to write

Ensure children have a quiet, well-lit area and access to writing supplies such is paper, pencils and crayons. Provide authentic writing opportunities for children to understand the purpose of writing – thank you notes, invitations, letters, shopping lists, stories etc.

Read widely and often

The best way to improve writing is reading! High-quality books expose children to ambitious vocabulary, techniques they can use in their own writing and a love for language.

Be a writing role model

Make sure your child sees you as a writer. Point out times you are using writing to communicate and discuss writing in the real world (e.g newspaper articles, advertisements, billboards, song lyrics as poetry). Incorporate quality vocabulary into conversations with your children that can spark discussions about language.

Support spelling practice

Help your child to practise their weekly spelling pattern and high frequency words using flashcards, games, and writing practice. To support this at home, we have subscribed to Spelling Shed and each child has an individual log in. For more information on this platform, please see the Home Practice page.