Writing

Early Writing
 

Planning  

• English is taught through a range of texts and/or standalone skill lessons.   

• Use Curriculum Progression Map (Server – English 22-23) to ensure all skills are taught.  

• A longterm-term plan is completed to highlight key texts, learning intentions and genres/skills to be taught.  

• Writing is taught through teacher modelling.  This demonstrates writer’s thought processes, how to use resources to support writing and high expectations. Teachers may teach skill weeks, guided write weeks and/or independent write weeks.  

• No daily planning is necessary, but a weekly plan is expected containing the main teaching points of each lesson.  

• Previously taught graphemes should be highlighted, to ensure high expectations of children in applying these skills in their writing. 
   

Writing Lesson Structure 

• Teachers to use the Writing Progression Document (Server English 22-23) 

• Lesson may begin with teachers providing feedback from previous lesson where appropriate sometimes the whole lesson becomes a feedback lesson if a common misconception has been identified).   

• Teaching includes the use of explanations and modelling of new concepts, shared and modelled writing, guided planning, vocabulary, opportunity for children to have a go.  Teachers/TAs expect to see CEWs and phonics mats out on tables during any writing activity.   

• Teacher and TA work with groups of children (NOT the same children everyday – dependent on previous day’s assessment/children’s self-assessment) 

• Groups are fluid – children may start in an adult led group and be sent to work independently and vice versa. 

• Books 

• Presentation of work in books is important and it is up to teachers to set high expectations: books should not have any graffiti on their covers. 

• Children are expected to write on a line, miss a line, write on a line etc.   This allows space for children to edit in red pen.  

• Work is in date order so that books show a learning journey. 

• The full date and learning intention should be displayed.  

• Children work in pencil and red pen for corrections.  

• Teachers/TAs use green pen. 

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Assessment/Feedback 

• Teachers to use Rotherham Grids to ensure children are on track  

• Teachers/TAs/Children mark writing books (live as much as possible) teachers may use whole class feedback to identify common misconceptions/organise focus groups/decide direction of next day’s learning. 

• Teachers/TAs to have high expectations for spellings, both phonetical and CEWs.   It is expected that teachers/TAs mark books for spelling errors and underline these with a wavy line.  If it is a common exception work, it is expected that the children use the common exception word list for their year group to correct it in red pen. If it’s an ambitious spelling for that child, then the TA/teacher also write the correct spelling above and at the bottom of the piece of work for the child to Look, Cover, Write, Check. No more than 5 spellings should be selected for this.   

• Within EYFS opportunities to mark make in the provision are provided.  Observations are taken of mark making and writing in the provision to support assessment.  

• After each independent piece of writing, teachers will use the appropriate writing assessment grid to assess the writing. (see English 22-23 folder). Before using the Greater Depth writing grid for a child, it’s important you can prove the child has achieved all the age-expected features.  The assessment grid may be stuck in the front of the book where the child does their independent writing, as it can be used as a tool to show the children what is expected of them, as well as what they need to do to improve. 
   

Spelling 

• Spelling is to be taught separately 

• Common exception words need to be assessed and then taught accordingly, including ones from previous years that haven’t yet stuck. (See common exception words for your year group in English 2021-22 folder) 

• Spelling rules must be taught and then children given the chance to practise and apply them. They should not be given lists of words to learn for homework. Look at the national curriculum or the non-nonsense spellings resources in the English 2021-22 folder to see what spelling rules should be taught. It may be necessary to revise some spelling rules from previous years. Common ones include the doubling of the consonant before adding a suffix and the ‘y’ changing to ‘shy i.’ 

• Spelling work may be recorded in spelling books or on whiteboards, depending on the task.