Binley Woods Primary School 

Writing 

Writing 

Children at Binley Woods are given wide and frequent opportunities to become writers in every text type (including hybrid text types) using meaningful contexts that relate to our curriculum but also to them, their context and themes that interest them. A love of writing and the skills needed for writing accuracy are taught and modelled during English lessons and applied throughout the wider curriculum where there are meaningful opportunities to do so. 

Children leave school as confident writers, able to write for a variety of purposes, audiences and in a variety of styles to communicate meaning effectively in a whole host of context. They have a desire to write and a knowledge of where writing can be used to advance their ambitions, express themselves and communicate their ideas. 

How writing is planned and taught: 

• Writing is taught and modelled within English lessons, linking to a specific context for writing or a novel being taught. Lessons are sequenced to build up knowledge of vocabulary and text types as well as the skills required in grammar and sentence structure, paragraphs and whole texts.  

• Whole class shared and guided writing sessions support children to write with cohesion, to write independently and to re-edit work. 

• Through the wider curriculum, opportunities are given to practise writing away from specific learning points taught  in English lessons. 

• Opportunities for speaking, listening and drama given to enhance writing. 

• Age and curriculum appropriate phonics and spellings taught discretely but also opportunities taken to apply this knowledge in English lessons 

• Handwriting practice timetabled weekly and letter formation and joins explicitly taught by teachers relevant to age group. 

How writing learning is assessed: 

• Daily formative assessment within lessons and using pupil books, class track formative used as a guide  

• Set summative assessments – spelling ages, SPAG tests, specific writing assessment tasks, phonics assessments 

• National moderated assessment points for KS2/KS1 SATS and Phonics. 

• Throughout the curriculum and away from the point of learning to check that key skills have been embedded and are applied. 

Ensuring a writing rich environment and wider learning: 

• Use of display boards as learning walls with modelled writing for each topic 

• Examples of children’s work throughout the school 

• Authors invited into school to share their writing techniques 

• Meaningful opportunities to write throughout all subjects 

• Entering writing competitions 

• Elevating editing, peer marking and the purple pen polishing process 

• Using speaking and listening more widely to inform their writing