We want pupils to acquire a wide vocabulary, a solid understanding of grammar and be able to spell new words by effectively applying the spelling patterns and rules they learn throughout their time in primary school.

We want them to write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. We believe all pupils should be encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their writing. This expectation starts in EYFS through fine motor tasks to develop a secure pencil grip. Staff are expected to consistently model the expected handwriting and ensure children develop a neat, joined, handwriting style by the time they move to secondary school. We believe all good writers refine and edit their writing over time, so we want children to develop independence in being able to identify their own areas for improvement in all pieces of writing, editing their work effectively during and after the writing process.

Each year group have a yearly overview of the writing genres, both narrative and non-fiction, they will teach. These have been planned to ensure correct coverage of the key genres as well as build on skills from year to year. We use planning and strategies from The Power of Reading and every unit is linked to a text that acts as a stimulus for teaching the identified text, word and sentence level features children will be expected to include in their extended writing outcome for that unit.

The planning includes strategies such as drama, boxing up writing, character exploration, prediction and inference. Working Walls and a WAGOLL – What a good one looks like – are created based on the stimulus text and support pupils to identify and use the identified features in their own writing. Non-fiction units are also taught through a quality WAGOLL that may be based on a stimulus text or may be related to another curriculum area.