VISION -Being a Writer at Lyppard Grange Primary School
At Lyppard Grange Primary School we place English at the heart of our curriculum. We strive to offer children a high-quality, English-rich learning environment, which will enable children to develop the skills they need to become life-long learners, readers and communicators, thus empowering them to be secure, engaged and equipped for life. Our vision is that all children leave our school as confident, fluent, independent writers. To facilitate this we give them opportunities to develop skills in writing, which enable them to communicate with others effectively in a range of forms and to confidently express themselves, imaginatively and creatively, for a range purposes and audiences.
INTENT
At LGPS we want children to achieve the following and believe we have designed a robust, engaging and challenging writing curriculum which allows them to do this:
IMPLEMENTATION
Curriculum design
Long term planning
The National Curriculum for English 2014 and Early Years Foundation Stage guidance provide the long-term planning for English taught across the school. This is used alongside the Yearly Overview, which details the text types being covered in each year group. Year groups are then free to move these around the year to where they fit best within teaching sequences. A clear progression in spelling is set out in the school’s Spelling Policy; we follow the Sounds and Syllables tier overviews.
Medium term planning
Before beginning a new theme of work, teachers create a detailed medium-term plan which lists all of the writing opportunities which will be provided across the unit.
Lesson design – Talk for Writing
Each class teacher is responsible for the English in their class in consultation with and with guidance from the subject leader. The majority of written work is collected in theme books and incorporates work from across a range of curriculum areas. As a school, we follow Talk for Writing as we believe that if a child ‘can’t say it, they can’t write it’. Each Talk for Writing unit follows a similar structure: imitation, innovation and independent application and enables children to internalise key language patterns of specific genres.
Imitation: Units always begin with a hook and a high-quality exemplar text, which is then explored and dissected in detail. Activities can include; creation of text map for exemplar text; immersion in text and oral retellings; identification of key text and language features; reading as a reader and as a writer, drama opportunities; short burst writing where children practise the skills needed for the text type; boxing up of the text to identify the underlying patterns and creating a toolkit to guide them as to the writing skills to include in their own versions. Vocabulary is discussed at every opportunity, exemplified and put into context.
Innovation: Using the model text as a basis, children make changes to it. This may include (but is not limited to) changing the main character/setting or the subject, altering the ending etc. A whole class version is planned together alongside high-quality teacher-led modelled and shared writing . Children then use the boxing up grid to plan and write their new version write this up. At this stage, teachers give detailed feedback to children so they can edit work against the toolkit.
Independent Application: Children are now given the opportunity to independently apply the skills they have learnt in English by producing another text on a similar theme. Wherever possible this is linked to themes so they can apply their skills across the curriculum.
Editing and Publishing: Editing and redrafting is done throughout the writing process, but with a the main focus being during imitation and innovation stages. Children respond to verbal feedback using green polishing pens. Across the year, children are given several opportunities to publish their work and we also look for wider audiences where work can be shared too (inviting parents in, sharing with previous teachers, classroom/school-wide displays, blogging etc.)
IMPACT
The impact of our curriculum is evaluated in a variety of ways: through day-to-day formative assessment; summative assessment using Insight objectives and Government tests; through monitoring of learning and teaching and pupil voice discussion to determine children’s views.
Pupils will make good progress from their own personal starting points, developing the English knowledge and skills they need to leave here as adept and confident writers. 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 well equipped for the rest of their education and their lives beyond this.
In addition: