We believe that children draw on their experiences in reading to help shape their writing and therefore high quality texts are at the heart of our writing. We share rich examples of writing both on and off the page and teach children how to draw on their own experiences when writing. We give children meaningful opportunities to write for real purposes and audiences through a variety of forms including non-fiction, poetry and narratives.

We believe strongly in the link of reading and writing and that developing children as writers is so much more than asking them to remember grammatical constructions or tricky spellings. It is a complicated and intricate process – and as we enable children to become a writers we give them a voice, support them to communicate and provided them with a skill that are vital for all of their schooling and to their life beyond.

Curriculum 

Children are taught writing skills in daily English lessons, underpinned by the National Curriculum but encompassed into the creative curriculum. Through the creative curriculum, regular opportunities to apply and practise these skills across a range of subjects and situations are planned by each class teacher. We use a range of strategies designed to support all kinds of learners. Talk for Writing is used across school where by we imitate the language you need for a particular topic orally, before reading and analysing it, and then writing their own version. We have a tailored English curriculum that was underpinned with the Power of Reading and the Power of Pictures pedagogy. 

Children are given the opportunity to:

 • Write in a variety of contexts including in discreet English lessons, through the creative curriculum, through topics and cross-curricular writing and through the Foundation Stage curriculum.

 • Study language, through shared texts

• Learn compositional skills – drafting, grammar, punctuation

• Use a range of writing techniques to engage and promote a love of writing.

Grammar 

Grammar is taught discreetly in year 1 and 2 and teachers plan engaging grammar lessons depending on the needs of the class and form of writing. This will then be modelled in all writing over the sequence of lessons. We follow the National Curriculum and believe explicit knowledge of grammar is very important as it gives us more conscious control and choice in our language. Building this knowledge with children is best achieved through a focus on grammar within the teaching of reading, writing and speaking.

Spelling

At Hall Green Infant School we follow a spelling scheme which both supports phonics sounds, spelling patterns and also common exception words. We use a range of strategies, rules and conventions and try to gauge how children learn in order to adapt our teaching of spelling. 

This goes home half termly and is tested weekly.

Parental Engagement

Like all areas of school we believe that parental support is vitally important. Children’s progress is formally reported to parents/carers at termly consultation evenings and in the annual report sent home in the summer term. Each year group also holds writing workshops where parents are invited to join in with a writing session and get the chance to see handwriting, writing and grammar techniques taught in school. Spelling scores are shared weekly in KS1 and key words are shared with parents in reception and nursery.