Writing At New Horizons Seaside Primary 

Intent

At New Horizons Seaside Primary, we understand the importance of writing and how it can develop children’s creativity, vocabulary and communication of ideas. Therefore, it is our fundamental aim to instil a love of writing in each of our children by allowing them to explore their imaginations and purposes for writing through creating exciting learning journeys, which are inspired by an enriching stimulus. Through this passion, combined with the essential knowledge that underpins high-quality writing, we believe that our children will develop into lifelong, functional and self-motivated writers.

Implementation

Our writing in KS1 and KS2 is based on the National Curriculum and interweaves the writing fundamentals of reading, spoken language, transcription, composition, spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPAG). Teachers follow a long term plan to ensure that all genres and text types are being taught; consequently, children have a balanced experience of writing.

Throughout the school, teachers carefully plan for writing opportunities from interesting and stimulating resources, which motivate and engage our young writers. These include the use of high-quality texts, visuals, film and audio. SPAG is purposefully interwoven into shared writes and when analysing models so that children can see how authors apply it to hold reader’s interest as well as communicate their ideas meaningfully. This knowledge of SPAG enables our children to write intentionally, with a greater awareness of audience and purpose.

For the duration of the writing journey, children are encouraged to develop their own writer’s voice and individuality by giving them elements of choice for their writing. Teachers expose them to a wide range of vocabulary and enthuse them with learning experiences such as: trips, hosting visitors, drama, engaging book talk and outdoor learning. These experiences along with the discussions they inspire help children to develop ideas that motivate them to write. Children are taught how to proofread for accuracy in their transcription and how to edit for improvements, which they can verbally explain. Spelling skills and accuracy are key in the writing process and children understand that spelling is important for high-quality outcomes. Spelling spots, the use of dictionaries, spelling spaces, spelling quest and word mats ensure that children have access to resources so that they can self-correct if needed.

We believe that it is vitally important to celebrate children’s writing and want them to be truly proud of what they have achieved. Seaside proudly rewards children’s efforts through displaying children’s work in the classrooms, on the ‘Writing Wonders’ wall, Headteacher’s Awards and STAR Awards.  

Impact 

The impact of our writing is assessed through a range of different strategies.

• Daily marking
• Book scrutinies
• Lesson observations
• Moderation (inter-school and in Year groups)
• Termly writing assessments in Year groups using assessment criteria
• EYFS - assessment against the Early Learning Goals from their learning journals
• Pupil conferencing
• Learning walks