'Let us remember: one book, one pen, one child and one teacher can change the world.' Malala Yousafzai
Writing
Intent
At Turnfurlong Junior school we believe that all children have the potential to become great writers, be able to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others, and be proud of their accomplishments. Our aim is to inspire a love of writing through exposure to exciting, stimulating texts and opportunities that ensure the progressive development of knowledge and skills and an appreciation of our rich and varied language. Writing allows for creativity and self-expression and we want our children to be confident in writing across a wide range of contexts and be able to adapt their language and style to suit those. We recognise the importance of speaking and listening as a key tool for developing writing and we have adopted approaches to support this. We have high expectations of all children and we encourage them to challenge themselves, believe in themselves and develop the confidence and skills to prepare them for their next steps.
Implementation
Writing in school follows the structure developed by Storytelling Schools - an approach developed to ensure writing is taught alongside reading, modeling, drama, creativity and oracy, thereby maximising engagement and progress.Units are often linked to other areas of the curriculum, or relevant current affairs, and/or based on quality texts/stimuli.
Writing units begin with the instruction of quality models, including a detailed example of what the children will be basing their final piece on. Models are performed by teachers, and then stepped out by the children; this requires the children to orally retell and act out the story before committing any ideas to paper. Mapping is then used to order and sequence events, and enable children to innovate their own ideas where appropriate. Deepening activities are planned into units to ensure children extend and develop their understanding of the language, structure and purpose of their pieces. These could take the form of group tasks, drama activities and oracy tasks amongst others. Children are encouraged to plan their own texts based on the model, with innovation and invention; teachers used shared and group writing techniques to support the children during this process. Throughout units children are taught to edit and reflect on their writing process, producing a final published piece which is shared and enjoyed by the school community and beyond.
Impact
The impact of the writing process and teaching at TJS will be:
- Children moving to secondary school confident in their ability to form and create texts, in preparation for the KS3 curriculum.
- High levels of grammar and vocabulary development
- High levels of engagement in the writing process
- The ability to adapt and develop their own writing ideas
- An understanding of the writing process and its links to oracy, reading and writing for pleasure
Enrichment
At TJS it is expected that children are given the time to edit and publish their work, and that this is then shared with the school community and beyond. Blogs, facebook and twitter are used to share childrens work with parents/carers and other members of the community to ensure children gain a sense of purpose from their work and a belief in their own ability. Children’s authors have responded to work via twitter and relevant organisations are invited to view the work, inspiring children and showing them that their writing matters.
Units are planned to be immersive, and link to relevant areas of the curriculum to maximise opportunities to extend knowledge, vocabulary and engage children. This is further enhanced by school visits and author workshops and the use of technology to fully explore audience and purpose through publishing.