Intent

At Maltby Manor Academy, we believe that literacy and communication are key life skills. Through the English curriculum, we will help children to develop the skills and knowledge that will enable them to communicate effectively through spoken and written language and give them the skills to become lifelong learners.

Writing Aims:

• To provide a language rich environment through oracy that promotes a culture of writing;
• To teach children the art of writing in order to develop the confidence and skills to write well for a range of purposes and audiences;
• To teach children to understand and use the basic skills – spelling, grammar, handwriting and punctuation – so that they have the necessary tools for learning;
• To foster in pupils an interest in words and their meanings and to develop a growing vocabulary;
• To develop in children the confidence, desire and ability to express their views and opinions both orally and in writing;
• To produce effective, well presented written work;
• To provide a language rich environment through oracy that promotes a culture of reading and writing;
• To develop in pupils a love of writing and promote high-quality literature that will not only support their learning across the curriculum, but also extend beyond the classroom environment and enrich their lives;
• To teach writing skills throughout the school that continually develop children’s understanding and enjoyment of texts;
• To foster in pupils an interest in words and their meanings and to develop a growing vocabulary.

We believe that writing is supported by instilling a love for reading within our pupils. We value the importance of reading to supplement writing, providing a purpose and a context to writing. We believe that pupils who are provided a meaningful purpose for writing demonstrate flair and effective writing composition, leading to high quality outcomes. Every half term, the English curriculum is taught by studying a high-quality text and high quality extracts where writing opportunities are derived from this. Each week, the children are taught to develop an understanding of the texts through reading comprehension - exploring the key themes, events and plot of the texts being studied. From this element of the curriculum, pupils are taught grammar from the National Curriculum which corresponds to the genres being written as part of the writing process. Children are then supported in how to apply the grammatical content taught in identifying features of a high-quality modelled text, before progressing to plan, write and re-draft a written piece which is fit for purpose and audience. High quality oracy opportunities are planned for linking to our core learning characteristics.

---

Implementation

Poetry basket has been implemented in Nursery where children learn nursery rhymes through actions and repetition. These nursery rhymes are then sent home for the children to further practice and rehearse / perform at home. Early Years Foundation Stage also utilises ‘Helicopter Stories’ to promote story writing; leading into transcription and dictation skills in KS1as the children’s writing competencies develop. Children in EYFS also benefit from a mixture of adult initiated learning; where they are taught explicit skills in writing and child-initiated learning where they can explore and apply these ideas further in the provision.

Year 1 focus on basic skills; children build on transcription and dictation. Early punctuation and grammar skills are taught and practised daily along with handwriting.

From Year 2 to Year 6, the children use a combination of high-quality novels, picture books, poetry, non-fiction texts, extracts and exceptional experiences as a stimulus for their writing. Using these texts, the children learn how to use punctuation and grammatical structures in the appropriate context.

As handwriting has continued to be an area of focus, we have invested in high quality writing books with handwriting lines printed onto the pages to improve the formation and presentation of writing. These books are differentiated based on the age of the children. 

Writing moderation girds have been implemented in non-statutory year groups along with a writing progression document. This supports whole school moderation and shows a clear build up of skills from Nursery- Y6.

---

Impact

Teachers plan high quality writing opportunities based on their learning journey stimulus or Reading core text. Teachers use formative assessment tools to accurately assess and adapt teaching when needed. This enables teachers to plan in the moment, identify any gaps in children’s learning, accelerate progress and keep writing ideas fresh and meaningful for the children. High quality handwriting books are used to promote handwriting in all year groups.

Children are taught new skills weekly which are then evident and included within their independent writing. Teachers plan for a wide range of genres and audience purposes and children enjoy publishing and celebrating both the process and final outcome of their written piece. Children’s writing is valued on displays around the academy and often a prominent feature of our ‘Superstar Assembly’.

Termly key stage moderation takes place to ensure that there is a consistent approach across the academy whilst also ensuring that all judgements are secure. We ensure as an academy, that at all staff in statutory year groups attend Local Authority training and are fortunate to have two Y6 Local Authority accredited moderators employed by the academy who support all staff in the moderation process and a KS1 Literacy Specialist working with the local English Hub.

In the Early Years Foundation Stage children display high levels of engagement whilst developing their writing and are eager to perform their nursery rhymes and share their imaginative stories. Purposeful ‘hooks’ for learning; including educational visits and first-hand experiences ensure that all children engage positively, and children attain above the national average at GLD.

In Key Stage 1 children are mastering basic sentence structure and punctuation. Handwriting has been a key focus and the use of handwriting lines has significantly improved handwriting.

In Key Stage 2, pupils confidently and eloquently write linking usually directly to the current learning journey. Oracy is again highly valued and utilised to grow confidence and expand vocabulary choice; whilst authentic outcomes engage the children with a clear purpose.

The attainment and progress of all Key stages and year groups are discussed termly during Pupil Progress meetings with class teachers, the Phase Leader and Principal; and are also shared and celebrated with the Governors.