Intent

Writing is a crucial part of our curriculum at Brookwood. By the end of Year Six, we intend our children to have developed a love of writing and the confidence to write effectively for a range of audiences and purposes using accurate spelling, punctuation and syntax. We intend our children to be able to re-read, edit and improve their own writing and have high expectations of their work.  A clear handwriting policy throughout the school will ensure that children leave at the end of Year Six having mastered an important means of physical communication, a foundation for further learning. The Letter Join Scheme begins with print in EYFS and KS1, then moving into Casual Cursive script. Finally, we intend to feed creativity by exposing the children to a wide range of texts and genres that will spark their individual imaginations.

Implementation

Children will grow in confidence and ability through the consistency of teaching and learning from Year R to Year 6. As the children progress through their years at Brookwood, they will develop a strong command of language; as the curriculum is designed to continually develop and progress their learning across all aspects of English. They will learn basic rules to write specific text types and this will follow them up through the school so that these rules become ingrained in the children’s memory making it easier to build and develop their writing further. Provision is made for the full range of pupils needs and abilities and we use a combination of commercially produced and school produced materials to deliver our curriculum which will be rigorously evaluated year on year.

There are daily English lessons timetabled with a focus on one genre/text type. Children begin the week by exploring a text through comprehension and spoken language activities, they then draft and rewrite a piece of extended writing based on the specific genre. In Key Stage 2, there are weekly spelling, and punctuation and grammar lessons in addition to the daily English lessons and children will learn the taught spelling rules at home each week which are then tested in school.

Additionally, cross-curricular links are a fundamental part of English teaching and learning and are made both implicitly and explicitly during lessons across the curriculum.

Impact

Pupils will make good progress from their own personal starting points. By the end of Year Six they will be able to write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. Our pupils will acquire a wide vocabulary and have a strong command of the written word. Most importantly, they will develop a love of writing and be confident and well equipped for the rest of their education. A clear handwriting policy throughout the school will ensure that children leave at the end of Year 6 having mastered an important means of physical communication, a foundation for further learning.