Writing
Our intention is for all of our pupils to become confident writers who love to write across all genres. They should develop rich vocabularies and be able to reflect upon their own writing. Our pupils will learn and understand different spelling rules, applying them appropriately and also develop flowing, legible handwriting. Through our broad and varied curriculum, they will understand different grammatical concepts and apply them correctly.
The curriculum builds skills progressively through a structured process, encouraging children to plan, draft and edit while becoming confident, reflective writers. It also closely links reading and writing, using rich model texts and discussion to develop vocabulary, ideas and independence in writing.
As with all our subjects, our lessons will start with the chance to review previously learned concepts in order to embed them deeply. We ensure that lessons are varied and that pupils work with a wide variety of stimuli, ensuring they are engaged and can draw ideas from a wide range of sources. We revise key language so our pupils have a broad vocabulary.
We start with pre-cursive handwriting in Reception, starting each letter on the line before moving to joined cursive writing in Year 1. Pupils in Reception will have opportunities to write their own pieces with careful modelling and support from their teacher.
A key pillar is the Talk for Writing approach, whereby we visually map out stories, rehearse writing orally and use high-quality model texts that pupils can innovate from. Our teachers model the writing process, talking through the choices they are making and helping pupils to think like a writer. Classes will create a text together and the teacher will skillfully merge their suggestions into one piece.
Across the school and particularly in Key Stage Two, pupils are given the chance to edit and revise their work, checking for accuracy and considering how to make the greatest impact on the reader. We aim to publish pupils' work every term, so their writing can be celebrated.
Writing is linked to broad topics or books to allow for cross-curricular links and all the benefits that this provides pupils.
By the time our children leave APSOL, they will be able to write confidently, having met all of the national curriculum expectations. They will know the conventions of a range of genres and be able to write in a variety of styles. We expect that they will write for pleasure and enjoy the process of writing. As each year progresses, we will assess each child's progress against their end of year expectations to ensure they are making a good level of progress.
