Writing at Ladybarn
and at our other Trust schools
Intent
Our English curriculum is based around the National Curriculum. We believe that a quality English curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion. We aim to instil in the children the importance of reading and inspire a habit and passion for reading widely and often. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We want children to have an understanding that writing has a real purpose and that word choice and style can bring about change. We want to inspire all children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening. We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledge-base in English, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance from nursery to year 6. We believe that a secure basis in English skills is crucial to a high quality education and will give our children the tools they need to thrive in Key Stage 3 and beyond.
Writing is taught in 3 stages called the 3 I’s, immersion, innovation and invention. The stages are explained below:
The immersion stage 1
A writing unit would begin with some engaging activities to immerse the children and to help them internalise the pattern of the language required. This is followed by learning an example text. Once they have internalised the language of the text, they are in a position to think about the key ingredients that help to make it work. This stage includes a range of reading as-a-reader and as-a-writer activities. Children examine the structure of the writing, the author’s strategies and techniques and the sentence types used. This then helps the children to learn the features that have helped to make it a high quality piece of writing.
Reception working hard on their letter formation
Nursery early writing skills
Year 1 create a story map to retell a familiar tale
The invention/independent application stage 3
This stage continues to focus on the next steps needed to support progress so the children can become independent speakers and writers of this type of text. Children use the techniques and strategies learned in the previous two stages to scaffold and create their own, independent writing.
The innovation stage 2
Once the children have internalised the text, they begin innovating on the pattern of the text. This could begin with more advanced activities to warm up the key words and phrases of the type of text focused on so the children can magpie ideas. Younger children and less confident writers alter their text and orally rehearse what they want to say, creating their own version. The key activity in this stage is shared writing, helping the children to write their own by “doing one together” first. This allows the children to see how you can innovate on the exempla text and select words and phrases that really work. Demonstrating how to regularly read your work aloud to see if it works is important here. This process enables the children to write their own versions through developing their ability to generate good words and phrases.
Year 1 fiction writing
Our three stages of writing ensure that children are able to progress and build on high quality writing techniques.
Year 2 persuasive letter writing
Year 3 developing their writing from books they enjoy
Year 5 showing off their creative poetry skills
Year 4 character description
Year 4 perfecting their cursive handwriting
Our model text stays up for the children to use as a scaffold for later writing stages
Year 6 focusing on building purposeful vocabulary
Year 6 working together to examine the model text.
Year 6 text analysis - what can we learn from the author's secrets and style?
All children edit and improve their writing
What did children in our Trust say about their English lessons?
The most common words that came up again and again when asked about writing...
