Writing

At Telferscot, we have adopted the Writing for Pleasure Centre approach. Through daily opportunities to write, our aim is to equip our children with the skills to become a community of creative, confident writers. Our children write across the curriculum as well as honing their writing craft in English lessons. They are clear on the purpose of their writing, whether this is to persuade, entertain, teach others, paint with words or reflect, to name a few. They are aware of their audience and are given time to celebrate and share their work with others. Children across all year groups, take ownership over their writing and are able to choose what they’ll write about during class projects based on their own interests and passions, giving them a sense of volition and motivation to write. Through learning the creative process of writing, our children can express their thoughts and feelings on paper. The children discuss their writing and share their ideas with peers daily, building their own identity and style.

Our English teaching is split into blocks called class writing projects. During each block, the children have the time to go deep into a writing genre and succeed in writing their own version. Each block goes through the same writing process:

Idea Generation – We introduce the genre, its' purpose and decide who we would like to share the end pieces with. They will look at high quality examples of this genre and identify the key features and aspects of the writing craft they enjoy in the mentor texts. The children will generate their own ideas and create product goals that will be taught and referred to throughout the project.

Planning – Children plan their own version of the writing genre.

Drafting – The children will undertake a variety of mini lessons based on their products goals to help them to draft their own writing and learn new skills within the context of the genre. This will involve grammar, punctuation and spelling as well as how to become creative and engaging writers.

Revising – this is an opportunity to check and up-level their work based on the genre’s product goals.

Editing – children will learn how to proof-read and edit their grammar, punctuation and spelling. 

Publishing and Performing - They will publish their work and celebrate their achievements. A few examples are; to post their letters, share their stories with another year group or perform a poetry recital for their families. This allows the children to feel like real writers and develop their writer identity, giving the children an end goal to work towards throughout the project.

During the writing block, the children receive bespoke one-to-one feedback to help develop their own personal skills and help move their writing onto new levels through teacher-pupil conferencing. Support is for all children, everyone will be challenged and encouraged to become the best writer they can be. Explicit handwriting and spelling sessions are also taught to develop these skills further based on the children’s needs.

Early Years and Key Stage One take part in book making daily where they create their own books based on the skills taught and are given the opportunity to write about their own chosen topics in their free writing time. Many children then continue making books in continuous provision, their play time and at home.

From Year 2 upwards, children are given personal writing journals where they are given the freedom to write about anything that interests them, using and practicing the skills they have learnt throughout their time at Telferscot.  We have seen some amazing independent poems, diary entries, short stories, comic strips all full of creative ideas.

Taking pleasure in writing for a range of purposes in and out of school is important to us. We strive to achieve this with opportunities such as:

• Regular competitions with a writing focus e.g., eco posters and themed poems
• Showcase and celebrate children’s achievements with our families through the weekly newsletter
• Events such as the Festival of Arts and Literature where children write their own stories inspired by the authors and illustrators that visit the school

Click here to view our whole year Writing overview