Writing
Our aims
At Scotton Lingerfield Primary School, we want children to become confident writers who can communicate their ideas clearly and creatively. We teach them to write for different purposes and audiences, making thoughtful choices about what they want to say and how to say it.
Our curriculum develops the practical skills of spelling and handwriting alongside the ability to compose, organise and improve writing. As these foundations become more secure, children can give greater attention to expressing their ideas and engaging their reader.
How we teach writing
Our writing curriculum follows a two-year rolling programme for our mixed-age classes, with progression in spelling, handwriting, vocabulary, grammar and punctuation planned for each year group.
High-quality books, poetry, film and wider curriculum learning provide starting points for writing. Children explore how authors communicate meaning and use what they notice to inform their own choices. Discussion, oral rehearsal, drama and performance help them develop ideas and try out language before writing.
Children revisit different forms of writing with increasing challenge. Younger children write to entertain and inform, while older children also develop writing intended to persuade and discuss. Across school, this includes stories, descriptions, poetry, letters, instructions, reports and other non-fiction.
Units follow a shared teaching sequence. Children explore model texts, discuss their structure and language, and identify what makes them effective. Teachers then use shared and modelled writing to demonstrate how ideas can be developed and expressed.
Teaching breaks writing into manageable steps. Children practise sentence construction, spelling and punctuation, then apply these skills in longer pieces. Teachers model how to plan, draft, reread and improve writing, gradually supporting children to take greater responsibility for these processes.
Children consider their reason for writing, their audience, the features that will help communicate their message and the tone they want to create. Wherever possible, writing has a real audience and purpose, helping children see themselves as writers whose words can inform, entertain or influence others.
Teachers adapt modelling, resources and support to children’s needs, helping them develop the foundations required for increasingly independent writing.
Building skills across ages and stages
In Reception, children develop the language, physical control and letter knowledge needed for writing. They learn to form recognisable letters and use their phonics knowledge to represent sounds in words. Meaningful opportunities, such as writing names, labels, lists, cards and postcards, help them understand why people write. As their confidence grows, they compose simple sentences that they and others can read.
In Years 1 and 2, children learn to say a sentence aloud before writing it, sequence their ideas and reread to check meaning. Teaching develops correct letter formation, spacing, spelling and sentence punctuation. Children move from short sentences and narratives towards more sustained writing, including accounts of real events, poetry and information texts. They begin to make additions and corrections, with support, and read their work aloud to others.
In Years 3 and 4, children develop a wider vocabulary and greater variety in sentence structure. They learn to organise related ideas into paragraphs, use headings where appropriate and develop settings, characters and plots. Grammar and punctuation teaching helps them express relationships between ideas and use dialogue effectively. Spelling develops through word patterns, prefixes and suffixes, while handwriting becomes more consistent and fluent. Children increasingly assess their own writing and suggest improvements to vocabulary, grammar and organisation.
In Years 5 and 6, children write with greater awareness of their audience and purpose. They make deliberate choices about vocabulary, sentence structure and formality, adapting their style to suit the task. Narrative writing develops atmosphere and character, with dialogue used to move the action forward. Non-fiction requires increasingly clear organisation, connected ideas and carefully selected information. Children refine their use of punctuation, draw on knowledge of word structure and origins for spelling, and proofread with increasing independence.
Developing accuracy and independence
Spelling, handwriting, grammar and punctuation are taught progressively, with regular opportunities to revisit earlier learning. Focused spelling and handwriting sessions provide time to practise patterns, rules, letter formation and fluency. Our spelling progression draws on Headstart Spelling materials. Children apply these skills in English lessons and across the curriculum, helping them become more secure and confident over time.
Rereading and editing are part of learning to write. Children consider whether their meaning is clear, whether their choices suit the reader and what could be improved. Feedback from teachers and peers helps them recognise successful choices and identify useful changes. Opportunities to share and perform their writing also help them hear how it sounds and recognise its effect on an audience.
Teachers use initial tasks to identify starting points and independent writing at the end of teaching sequences to assess how well children can apply their learning. This informs the next steps in teaching and any additional support needed.
By the end of Year 6, we want children to write clearly, accurately and with growing independence, equipped to communicate their ideas across the secondary curriculum and in everyday life.
