Writing
From the moment children join Sandfield, they are immersed in a curriculum, which is based upon high quality and rich texts. These texts are linked to the subjects of Geography and History, which are the key drivers of our curriculum. We firmly believe that children need to be writing about concepts that they already have knowledge or experience of and our curriculum offer is very much based on providing those rich and experiential learning experiences to each and every child. As a result, all children are provided with first hand experiences, which they can then confidently write about.
Our aims for writing are as follows:
- To write with enjoyment, enthusiasm and stamina
- To understand that writing has a purpose
- To become independent writers, using the key skills they have been explicitly taught
- To write confidently across a range of genres
- To plan, draft and edit their own writing with increased independence
- To understand the importance of writing across the curriculum and to write with the same fluency and accuracy as they would within a designated English lesson
- To present their work to the highest of standards and that presentation matters across all areas of the curriculum
From Year 1 onwards, children have an hour of English each day in which they develop their skills as writers, using an increasing range of vocabulary and more complex sentence structures. They are given opportunities to write across a range of purposes and genres and for different audiences. The objectives covered in English lessons, against which children are regularly assessed, are taken from the 2014 National Curriculum. In Early Years, children are immersed in writing opportunities from the day they begin school. There will be opportunities for the children to write throughout the day, initiated by themselves, and will they will also take part in an adult supported writing group each day.
At Sandfield, independent pieces of writing are uploaded onto Seesaw, our online learning platform. This ensures that children’s writing is readily shared with their parents and allows the class teacher to provide bespoke and targeted feedback. This feedback takes the form of a verbal 5 minute recording to the children whereby the teacher reads the child’s work and edits their work online accordingly. This feedback will happen after every extended piece of writing.
There are many opportunities for children to write across the curriculum and these are outlined on each phase group’s overview for the term. It is expected that the children complete at least one extended piece of writing in English each half term alongside one extended write in one other subject.
Handwriting
At Sandfield, we are very proud of our pupil’s handwriting and take particular care in our cursive handwriting style. We use Letter-join’s on-line handwriting resources as the basis of our handwriting policy as it covers all the requirements of the National Curriculum.
Handwriting is a basic skill that influences the quality of work throughout the curriculum. By the end of Key Stage 2 all pupils should have the ability to produce fluent, legible and, eventually, speedy joined-up handwriting, and to understand the different forms of handwriting used for different purposes. Our intention is to make handwriting an automatic process that does not interfere with creative and mental thinking.
Aims:
• To develop a neat, legible, speedy handwriting style using continuous cursive letters, which leads to producing letters and words automatically in independent writing.
• To establish and maintain high expectations for the presentation of written work.
• For pupils to understand, by the end of Year 6, the importance of neat presentation and the need for different letterforms (cursive, printed or capital letters) to
help communicate meaning clearly.
Expectations
All teaching staff are encouraged to model the cursive style in all their handwriting, whether on whiteboards, displays or in pupils’ books.
Consistency throughout the school
Pupils should experience coherence and continuity in the learning and teaching of handwriting across all school years and be encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their work. Our objective is to help pupils enjoy learning and developing their handwriting with a sense of achievement and pride.
Handwriting frequency
Handwriting is a cross-curricular task and will be taken into consideration during all lessons. Formal teaching of handwriting will be carried out regularly and systematically to ensure Key Stage targets are met.
