Our Lady of the Rosary

Writing

At Our Lady of the Rosary School, our vision is to transform the lives of our pupils within a Catholic environment by nurturing the wellbeing of each child, promoting the highest academic achievement and instilling a lifelong love of learning. We aim to fulfil our school strap line ‘Faith, Love, Learning’ by igniting a thirst for knowledge and a desire to achieve through an engaging and creative curriculum that promotes the highest academic achievements and prepares our pupils to be successful in their adult life.

 

Vision...

Throughout their time at Our Lady of the Rosary, our vision is for all our pupils to develop a love for communication and to be able to do this through writing. We want every child to speak and write clearly, accurately and coherently in order to share their own ideas and respond to those of others. Our aim is for the pupils of our school to know the value of both their spoken and written voices and use these skills beyond the classroom.

 

Intent

At Our Lady of the Rosary, we believe that all pupils should have the opportunity to become confident and fluent writers with a good understanding of writing for different contexts, purposes and audiences. We aim to create a language rich environment to support our pupils.  We intend to develop the pupils’ understanding of grammar and widen their vocabulary both orally and in written form, which enables them to apply their skills across the curriculum. We also want our pupils to take pride in their work.

 

Writing skills are developed through a progressive writing curriculum from the EYFS to Year 6. All pupils are given the opportunity to communicate in written form on a daily basis in English lessons and across the curriculum. Throughout their time at school, pupils are exposed to a range of high-quality texts which are created for a range of purposes and audiences. We intend for the pupils leaving our school to be able to understand and apply age-appropriate spelling, punctuation and grammar skills to their written work. We also want pupils to have fluent and legible joined-up handwriting.

 As a school, we share and celebrate our writing with pride and express that every child is an Our Lady of the Rosary Author.

EYFS

 The Early Learning Goals for writing come from both literacy and physical development. Children at the expected level of development will:

  • Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed;
  • Spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters;
  • Write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others.

Key Stage 1

Writing is divided into two sections;

Transcription (spelling and handwriting)

Composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing)

 Composition

Pupils will develop positive attitudes towards and stamina for writing by:

  • writing narratives about personal experiences and those of others (real and fictional)
  • writing about real events
  • writing poetry, writing for different purposes
  • consider what they are going to write before beginning by:
  • planning or saying out loud what they are going to write about
  • writing down ideas and/or key words, including new vocabulary
  • encapsulating what they want to say, sentence by sentence
  • make simple additions, revisions and corrections to their own writing by:
  • evaluating their writing with the teacher and other pupils
  • re-reading to check that their writing makes sense and that verbs to indicate time are used correctly and consistently, including verbs in the continuous form
  • proof-reading to check for errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation [for example, ends of sentences punctuated correctly]
  • read aloud what they have written with appropriate intonation to make the meaning clear.

Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation

  • develop their understanding of the concepts by:
  • learning how to use both familiar and new punctuation, including full stops, capital letters, exclamation marks, question marks, commas for lists and apostrophes for contracted forms and the possessive (singular)

learn how to use:

  • sentences with different forms: statement, question, exclamation, command
  • expanded noun phrases to describe and specify [for example, the blue butterfly]
  • the present and past tenses correctly and consistently including the progressive form subordination (using when, if, that, or because) and co-ordination (using or, and, or but)

Lower Key Stage 2

  • plan their writing by:
  • discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar
  • discussing and recording ideas
  • draft and write by:
  • composing and rehearsing sentences orally (including dialogue), progressively building a varied and rich vocabulary and an increasing range of sentence organising paragraphs around a theme
  • in narratives, creating settings, characters and plot
  • in non-narrative material, using simple organisational devices [for example, headings and sub-headings]
  • evaluate and edit by:
  • assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing and suggesting improvements proposing changes to grammar and vocabulary to improve consistency, including the accurate use of pronouns in sentences
  • proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors
  • Read aloud their own writing, to a group or the whole class, using appropriate intonation and controlling the tone and volume so that the meaning is clear.

Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation

Develop their understanding of the concepts:

  • extending the range of sentences with more than one clause by using a wider range of conjunctions, including when, if, because, although
  • using the present perfect form of verbs in contrast to the past tense
  • choosing nouns or pronouns appropriately for clarity and cohesion and to avoid repetition
  • using conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions to express time and cause
  • using fronted adverbials
  • indicate grammatical and other features by:
  • using commas after fronted adverbials
  • indicating possession by using the possessive apostrophe with plural nouns
  • using and punctuating direct speech
  • use and understand the grammatical terminology accurately and appropriately when discussing their writing and reading.

Upper Key Stage 2

Plan their writing by:

  • identifying the audience for and purpose of the writing, selecting the appropriate form and using other similar writing as models for their own
  • noting and developing initial ideas, drawing on reading and research where necessary
  • in writing narratives, considering how authors have developed characters and settings in what pupils have read, listened to or seen performed
  • draft and write by:
  • selecting appropriate grammar and vocabulary, understanding how such choices can change and enhance meaning
  • in narratives, describing settings, characters and atmosphere and integrating dialogue to convey character and advance the action
  • précising longer passages using a wide range of devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs
  • using further organisational and presentational devices to structure text and to guide the reader [for example, headings, bullet points, underlining]
  • evaluate and edit by:
  • assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing
  • proposing changes to vocabulary, grammar and punctuation to enhance effects and clarify meaning ensuring the consistent and correct use of tense throughout a piece of writing
  • ensuring correct subject and verb agreement when using singular and plural, distinguishing between the language of speech and writing and choosing the appropriate register
  • proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors

 

Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation

  • recognising vocabulary and structures that are appropriate for formal speech and writing, including subjunctive forms
  • using passive verbs to affect the presentation of information in a sentence
  • using the perfect form of verbs to mark relationships of time and cause
  • using expanded noun phrases to convey complicated information concisely
  • using modal verbs or adverbs to indicate degrees of possibility
  • using relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that or with an implied (i.e. omitted) relative pronoun

 Indicate grammatical and other features by:

  • using commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity in writing
  • using hyphens to avoid ambiguity
  • using brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis
  • using semi-colons, colons or dashes to mark boundaries between independent clauses
  • using a colon to introduce a list
  • punctuating bullet points consistently

Implementation

  • Pupils follow a progressive writing framework from EYFS to Y6.
  • Preparation for writing begins in the EYFS with mark making. Staff provide opportunities to develop hand-eye coordination and finger strength to prepare pupils for writing.
  • High-quality literature is used for the teaching of English in all year groups in order to expose pupils to a wide variety of ways of communicating.
  • We follow a text-based curriculum. Teachers have a yearly overview of progressive texts to teach writing. Fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts are all included.
  • When teaching writing, high-quality texts are explored so pupils can examine their structure and language choices and how an author has written for a specific purpose.
  • Extended writing always begins with the opportunity to plan work and communicate ideas. Planning formats can be used alongside verbal communication to establish ideas.
  • Pupils have the opportunity to proofread, edit and redraft their work and that of others.
  • Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar skills progress throughout Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 and are regularly revisited to embed knowledge and understanding.
  • Teachers deliver the relevant grammar and punctuation for their year group as set out by the National Curriculum. This is taught both explicitly in stand-alone weekly lessons and applied within the context of writing for a purpose.
  • Tasks are adapted for all pupils. Pupils are provided with the necessary scaffolds and support in order to make progress.
  • There are daily opportunities for pupils to practice their oracy to support the writing they produce.
  • Teachers provide high-quality example texts to show pupils how the features they are being taught can be used within extended writing.
  • High quality presentation is strived for through following a cursive handwriting. Adults model correct letter formation, both in discrete handwriting sessions and when writing in workbooks.
  • Consideration is given to how greater depth will be taught, learnt and demonstrated within each lesson, as well as how learners will be supported in line with the school’s commitment to inclusion.
  • Effective CPD is available to staff to ensure high levels of confidence and knowledge are maintained.
  • Assessment is informed by observations during daily English lessons, verbal feedback and through weekly written improvement marking of writing follow the school’s marking policy.
  • Teacher’s summative judgements are discussed at pupil progress meetings and shared in end of year reports for all Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils.
  • Cross-curricular links are planned for and allow children to deepen their understanding across the curriculum, including the use of history, geography, mathematics and science. 

Impact

Our pupils will enjoy writing and view it as relevant, purposeful and as a vehicle to communicate their ideas across a range of subjects. They will be able to write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences. Our pupils will enjoy talking about their writing and show enthusiasm in wanting to improve the effect of their writing on their reading audience.

 We have high aspirations, which will see them through to further study, work and a successful adult life. 

Writing genre overview 2024

 

KS2 Reading and Spelling parent workshop February 2025