Writing

English - Writing

At Malorees, we intend that our pupils develop into confident, passionate writers who are able to write articulately and clearly for a range of purposes: to entertain, to inform, to persuade and to discuss. It is our aim that pupils learn to express their voice through a range of mediums to share their thoughts and ideas with a variety of audiences.

The development of children’s language is crucial to their success across the curriculum and provides the foundations for development in both reading and writing. At Malorees we aim to teach pupils key English skills – Speaking and Listening, Reading and Writing – across all areas of the curriculum. Discussion is a vital part of all teaching and learning and we encourage pupils to express themselves confidently and to communicate fluently and articulately, with clarity and purpose, in an engaging and compelling manner. Similarly, they are encouraged to listen and to appreciate other speakers.

We aim to do this through the use of Pie Corbett’s ‘Talk For Writing’ model. The process consists of each year group starting with a high-quality core text that engages the children. The texts are explored in detail using a range of techniques, from video excerpts, drama and role-play to language and character analysis. Exemplar texts of the writing outcome are then deconstructed for children to understand the structure, language and grammar devices used in that text type. This is followed by modelled and shared writing, which helps to nurture the children’s awareness of grammar, fluency, and creativity. Children finally create their own independent pieces of writing by applying what they have learnt. These are then edited and improved by the children themselves.

Handwriting

KS1: There are two discrete 20-minute handwriting sessions each week. In addition, handwriting forms part of early morning activities and is a focus in phonics and spelling lessons. These focus on letter formation: cursive from the line is taught and modelled by teachers.

The Nelson Handwriting scheme is used to teach cursive writing in KS2. Handwriting is taught by joining letters, which is introduced midway through year one, and/or once children can confidently form and write letters correctly. Teachers are expected to model cursive handwriting consistently in all subjects and on all working walls.

We have a system at Malorees, where children in KS2 earn their pen licence and are to evidence this to the senior leadership team. However, their pen licence will be revoked by the class teacher if handwriting and presentation in books start to regress.

SPAG

At Malorees we use ‘No Nonsense’ spelling to support the teaching of spellings. Children are assigned 10 words a week that they must learn in preparation for the Friday spelling tests. The wordlist assigned to each year group is in line with the National Curriculum and includes high frequency words and common exception words.