Writing

At St Wilfrid’s we are dedicated to encouraging all children to be passionate about writing. We are determined to support all children in becoming highly competent  writers by the end of their time with us. It is our intention to immerse pupils in quality texts in order to instil a love of writing. During their time at St Wilfrid’s, all children will be exposed to a high-quality systematic English education, rich in vocabulary. This will teach pupils to speak, read and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas, thoughts and feelings with others and understand what others are trying to communicate to them.  

We want children to:  

See themselves as a writer and celebrate their success 

Be able to reflect, edit and publish their own work

Be able to select appropriate word choice, sentence structure and text form for effect

Understand the relevance of writing to themselves and their lives 

Understand the purpose, audience and forms of writing 

Develop resilience as independent writers 

At St Wilfrid’s we use Literacy Tree’s writing resource and programme, Writing Roots. Plans are adapted to meet the needs of the children in the class. The Writing Roots programme is based around Teach Through a Text pedagogy and embeds all National Curriculum requirements and places audience and purpose at the core.  The programme is underpinned by a range of factors supported by research that provides evidence of a likely impact on attainment in a variety of ways: motivation, use of drama techniques and opportunities to write frequently. 

Writing policy 

Grammar progression 

Punctuation progression

Handwriting

At St Wilfrid's we implement the Twinkl Handwriting progression. Each class has a specific handwriting focus to support children on their journey to being able to write fluently and legibly in a joined, cursive style. 

 In EYFS, children are taught basic letter formation within their phonics sessions alongside the letter sounds. Letter formation rhymes are used to support this. Alongside letter formation, motor skill activities are provided to develop children's pencil grip. 

From Year 1 upwards letter formation is taught in letter families so that children are able to practise letters with similar movements together, promoting fluency.

Class 2 Handwriting Progression

Class 3 Handwriting Progression

Class 4 Handwriting Progression

Class 5 Handwriting Progression

Handwriting is a complex skill and children may require support at various points. At St Wilfrid's we implement the following interventions to support children with the development of their Handwriting skills. 

Dough Disco 

Additional small group handwriting practice 

Occupational Therapy Motor skills programme 

Fizzy Motor Skills programme 

Squiggle While You Wiggle 

Write from the Start 

Start Write, Stay Right 

Spelling 

 To become independent spellers children should:

• Have a store of words they can spell automatically.
• Be able to segment/sound words out.
• Know the common letter patterns, so that they know when a word looks ‘right’ (become a visual speller).
• Be able to divide words into syllables.
• Make links between the meaning of words and their spelling.
• Work out spelling rules for themselves.
• Use word banks and dictionaries

At St Wilfrid's we use the Twinkl Phonics Scheme from Nursery to Year 2. This scheme is validated by the DfE. The programme ensures, through daily practice, that children have a secure grasp of the 4 cornerstones of phonics needed to read and write fluently:  rapid recall of GPCs, rapid recall of tricky/common exception words, efficient blending skills and efficient segmenting skills.  The structure of every phonics lesson follows a five-part pattern to ensure that the four cornerstones of phonics are covered: revisit and review, teach, practice, apply, assess. In Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6, we use the Twinkl Planit progression for spelling.