Purpose of study

English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society. A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others, and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society; pupils who do not learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently are effectively disenfranchised.

Aims

The overarching aim for English in the national curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:

• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
• appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
• write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
• use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
• are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate

Intent 

At Woodcot, we aspire to cultivate a love of writing among our pupils, fostering a vibrant and engaging environment where creativity and expression flourish. Our writing curriculum, heavily influenced by The Write Stuff approach, is designed with the following key aims:

Purposeful Writing: We intend for pupils to write for varied purposes, whether it be to inform, entertain, describe, or persuade. This ensures that students see the relevance and power of writing in their everyday lives.

Developing Skills: By integrating The Write Stuff's focus on writing techniques, we aim to equip pupils with essential skills in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and vocabulary, enabling them to articulate their thoughts clearly and effectively.

Inclusivity: Our intent is to provide an inclusive writing curriculum that caters to the diverse needs of all learners, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The Write Stuff's differentiated strategies are employed to support every child in developing their writing capabilities to their fullest potential.

Creativity and Imagination: We encourage originality and creativity by providing various stimuli aligned with The Write Stuff methodology, such as literature, visual arts, and personal experiences, helping pupils find their unique voice and confidence in their writing.

Implementation

The implementation of our writing curriculum is holistic and involves:

Curriculum Planning: Following a structured and sequenced writing curriculum informed by The Write Stuff, we build progressively on skills and knowledge. Each year group has clearly defined objectives, ensuring that all pupils are challenged appropriately.

Quality Literature: We use high-quality texts as a basis for writing activities, drawing upon The Write Stuff’s selections to enhance pupils’ understanding of different writing styles and techniques.

Inspiring Writing Opportunities: We provide a range of engaging writing prompts and projects inspired by The Write Stuff’s creative techniques to spark interest and creativity. Writing competitions, author visits, and themed weeks enrich the writing experience and encourage participation.

Regular Feedback: Feedback is an integral part of our writing process. We implement formative assessment strategies, including peer reviews and teacher comments, reflecting The Write Stuff's emphasis on dialogue and improvement, guiding pupils in refining their work.

Differentiated Support: We employ targeted interventions for pupils who require additional support, using The Write Stuff’s resources and strategies to ensure that every child can engage with and succeed in writing tasks.

Embedded Literacy Across the Curriculum: We incorporate writing tasks across all subjects to reinforce literacy skills and demonstrate the importance of writing in various contexts, always linking back to the principles of The Write Stuff.

Impact 

The impact of our writing curriculum is measured through both quantitative and qualitative means:

Progress and Attainment: We closely monitor pupils’ progress through ongoing assessments and end-of-year evaluations. The majority of our pupils achieve or exceed age-related expectations in writing, demonstrating strong progress from their starting points, including implementation of The Write Stuff principles.

Pupil Engagement: Feedback from pupils indicates a high level of engagement and enjoyment in writing activities inspired by The Write Stuff. Many report increased confidence in their writing abilities and a greater willingness to write outside of school.

Exemplar Work: A portfolio of high-quality writing from various year groups showcases the pupils' growth and ability, with The Write Stuff techniques evident in their work. Exemplary work is celebrated through displays, publications, and school events, highlighting their achievements to the wider community.

Parental Involvement: Our writing initiatives encourage parental engagement. Workshops and events, influenced by The Write Stuff, facilitate effective collaboration between school and home, fostering a supportive writing culture that extends beyond the classroom.

Lifelong Skills: Ultimately, our writing curriculum instils in pupils a lifelong appreciation of writing, equipping them with the essential skills needed in their future education and beyond. By engaging with The Write Stuff, we aim to produce articulate, thoughtful, and creative communicators who can navigate various forms of writing with confidence.

Year R

• Children will be able to demonstrate an understanding of what has been read to them by retelling stories and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary.

• They will be able to anticipate – where appropriate – key events in stories.

• They will be able to use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems and during role-play 

• They will be able to say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs; - 
• They will be able to read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words. 

• They will be able to write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed.

• They will be able to spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters.

• They will write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others. 

Year 1

Writing

TRANSCRIPTION

The pupil can, after discussion with the teacher:

Spell words containing the phonemes and graphemes taught.

Spell most common exception words.

Use the prefix un- to the start of a word to make a different word.

Add the suffixes -ing, -ed, -er and -est to the end of a word to make a new word.

Spell the days of the week.

Use -s and -es to form regular plurals correctly

HANDWRITING

I can write some lower-case letters in the correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place.

I can write capital letters.

COMPOSITION & EFFECT

Join my sentences to make a story

Join my sentences to make non-fiction texts

Read my sentence out loud to my teacher and friends.

Reread my writing and make suggested changes.

Begin to use some features of different text types.

VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR and PUNCTUATION

Use simple sentences structures.

Use some capital letters

Use some full stops.

Use joining words like 'and' and ‘because’.

Beginning to use capital letters for names, places, days of the week and 'I'’.

Use some adjectives in my writing.

Recognise some singular and plural words.

Begin to use question marks.

Begin to use exclamation marks

Year 2

Writing

TRANSCRIPTION

Segment spoken words into phonemes and represent these by graphemes

Spell some words correctly

Make phonetically-plausible attempts at others

Spell many common exception words*

HANDWRITING

Form capital letters and digits of the correct size, orientation and relationship to one another and to lower-case letters

Use spacing between words that reflect the size of the letters

COMPOSITION & EFFECT

Write simple, coherent narratives about personal experiences and those of others (real and fiction)

Write about real events, recording these simply and clearly

VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR and PUNCTUATION

Demarcate most sentences in their writing with capital letters

Demarcate most sentences in their writing with full stops ,

Use question marks correctly when required

Use present tense mostly correctly and consistently

Use past tense mostly correctly and consistently

Use co-ordination (e.g., or /and / but) to join clauses

Use some subordination (e.g., when / if / that / because) to join clauses

Year 3

Writing

TRANSCRIPTION

Spell correctly all words from the Year 2 spelling list,

Spell correctly most words from the Year 3/4 spelling list

Use a dictionary to check the spelling of uncommon or more ambitious vocabulary.

Use phonic knowledge (phases 3-5 KS1 phonics for reference)

HANDWRITING

Write legibly and join letters most of the time, using the correct strokes

COMPOSITION & EFFECT

Plan writing in preparation for writing

Draft and write

Evaluate and edit work (including proofreading for grammatical structures, punctuation and spelling)

VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR and PUNCTUATION

Use a range of sentences (some with more than one clause)

Use co-ordinating and subordinating conjunctions within complex and compound sentences

Express time, place and cause through some use of adverbs

Express time, place and cause through some use of conjunctions

Express time, place and cause through some use of prepositions

Beginning to use adverbial sentences starters with appropriate use of comma

Use the correct tense for a piece of work

Use the present perfect verb form instead of the simple past tense

Use nouns and pronouns to avoid repetition

Begin to use punctuation for direct speech

Use apostrophes for singular possession and contraction mostly correctly

Year 4

Writing

TRANSCRIPTION

Spell all words from the Year 2 spelling list

Spell most words from the Year 3/4 spelling list.

Use phonic knowledge (phases 3-5 KS1 phonics for reference)

HANDWRITING

Write legibly and join letters all of the time

COMPOSITION & EFFECT

Plan and write for a range of purposes

Selecting language that shows awareness of the reader

Plan writing in preparation for drafting

Draft and write work

Evaluate and edit work (including proof-reading for grammatical structures, punctuation and spellings)

Use a range of sentence types including sentences with more than one clause

VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR and PUNCTUATION

Use expanded noun phrases to give precise detail

Use fronted adverbial sentence starters; punctuated correctly

Use a variety of conjunctions to express time, place and cause

Use a variety of adverbs to express time, place and cause

Use a variety prepositions to express time, place and cause

Use a wide-range of conjunctions within complex and compound sentences

Use the correct tense for the pieces of work

Use the present perfect form in contrast to the past tense

Use punctuation for direct speech

Year 5

Writing

TRANSCRIPTION

Spell correctly most words from the Year 3 / 4 spelling list

Spell some words from the Year 5 /6 spelling list

Use dictionaries to check the spelling and meaning of words.

Use a thesaurus to find suitable synonyms.

Spell many complex homophones correctly

HANDWRITING

Write legibly with increasing speed through choosing whether or not to join specific letters.

COMPOSITION & EFFECT

Plan and write for a range of purposes and audiences

Selecting language that shows awareness of the reader

Plan writing in preparation for drafting

Draft and write work by selecting the appropriate grammar for purpose and audience.

Evaluate and edit work (including proof-reading for grammatical structures, punctuation and spellings)

Use a range of sentence types including sentences with more than one clause

Begin to use a range of devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs e.g

• adverbials of time (later, meanwhile, yesterday etc.)
• place (nearby
• number (firstly, secondly, thirdly etc
• or tense choices (he had seen her before)

VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR and PUNCTUATION

Indicate degrees of possibility using adverbs (e.g. perhaps, surely etc.) or modal verbs (e.g. might, should, will, must etc. )

Indicate degrees of possibility using modal verbs (e.g. might, should, will, must etc. )

Begin to change the vocabulary to suit the purpose including formal and informal language.

Add information to my sentences using relative clauses (who, which, that).

Begin to use the range of punctuation taught at key stage 2 mostly correctly ^.? ! , ‘ ( ) –

Use inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct speech)

Year 6

Writing

TRANSCRIPTION

Spell correctly most of the words from the Year 5 / 6 spelling list

Use a dictionary to check the spelling of uncommon or more ambitious vocabulary

HANDWRITING

Maintain legibility in joined handwriting when writing at speed.

COMPOSITION & EFFECT

Write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences

Selecting the language that shows good awareness of the reader (e.g. the use of the first person in a diary; direct address in instructions and persuasive writing)

In narratives, describe settings, characters and atmosphere

Integrate dialogue in narratives to convey the character and advance the action

Use a range of devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs e.g.

• conjunctions
• adverbials of time and place
• pronouns
• synonyms

VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR and PUNCTUATION

Select vocabulary and grammatical structures that reflect what the writing requires, doing this mostly appropriately e.g.

•  using contracted forms in dialogue in narrative;
• using passive verbs to affect how information is presented;
• using modal verbs to suggest degrees of possibility)

Use verb tenses consistently and correctly throughout their writing

Use the range of punctuation taught at key stage 2 mostly correctly (e.g. inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct speech)