Netherthong

Reading is like breathing in, writing is like breathing out. 

Pam Allyn 

We aim to provide a rich and stimulating language environment for our children, where speaking and listening, drama and role play, reading and writing are all heavily intertwined and integral to one another. We continually strive with our curriculum to provide opportunities for pupils to become confident, competent and expressive users of English with a developing knowledge of how it works and we want pupils to be reflective users of language - able to analyse and evaluate features of language. Our pupils will have an awareness of purpose and audience for both written and oral language and we endeavour to create an environment where pupils are encouraged to construct and convey meaning, both in speech and writing, of factual, imaginary and personal experiences. In essence, we want confident, articulate and expressive writers and speakers so that every single one of our learners, whatever their background and needs, can use their writing and oracy skills to be successful in life. We aspire, that as pupils move on from us to further their education and learning, that their creativity, passion for English and high aspirations travel with them and continue to grow and that we have fulfilled our vision of nurture, progress and succeed, within our English delivery. Our writing curriculum achieves this by using rich texts that children can relate to and that they’re engaged by, which build with every year and which allow them to make links to the broader curriculum.  We build in oracy opportunities through the planning sequence to support new language learning and build confidence, underpinned of course by reading and the acquisition of new and appropriate vocabulary.  Through this, whatever their starting point or context, we build critical skills to help prepare children for adulthood.

We take a systematic approach to writing, revisiting key learning and building upon it in all areas from phonics, through to grammar and spelling and different genres, adapting teaching and resources so that every child can make progress, whatever their starting point and needs. Writing takes place across the curriculum, not just in English lessons and staff continually foster a love of speaking and writing throughout the school year, in every context from World Book Day, to School Government and Collective Worship. We use high quality texts, modelling and shared/collaborative writing to demonstrate good practice for example using The Power of Reading and Literacy Shed Plus. Children with SEND have to navigate the same written language, unlock the same alphabetic code, learn the same skills, and learn and remember the same body of knowledge as their peers. Writing frames and other devices are used to support the least confident and SEND children and we provide time for children to plan, edit and revise using purple pen.  The marking of extended pieces support next steps and targets are in the front of children’s writing books so that they can see and plan their journey. School makes all reasonable adjustments to enable pupils with disabilities to have full access to the curriculum and to be able to participate in it. 

 Texts used as writing stimulus generally link with the broader curriculum, helping children to make rich connections with the wider world and their own contexts.  English lessons happen every day. Grammar is taught on a weekly basis using the Schofield & Sims Grammar resources and as appropriate, during the English lesson, with grammatical errors corrected orally/ in writing (where appropriate) and misconceptions addressed. Spelling is a focus in school: children use Fred Fingers’ strategies and regularly their practice spellings, using The Spelling Shed to consolidate skills every week in school but also as homework. Competition for the top 15 spelling places celebrated in Merit Assembly every week ensures engagement is high! Staff receive regular training and updates on all aspects of English and regular monitoring and collaboration across school ensures that writing in every class is of super quality and building on knowledge, skills and understanding.

The impact of our delivery of Writing is that children enjoy writing across a range of genres, can write for a range of purposes and audiences, and become confident and effective communicators, both in their written work and with their oracy. They will amass a varied vocabulary that they can use across the curriculum and can apply spelling rules and grammatical concepts in their work, spotting opportunities to improve their work both independently and with adult support. Children tell us that they are proud of what they produce and the progress they see in their work.  We celebrate this with them through feedback, assemblies and they have the opportunity to see it on display and shared with others in the school and with their families. We as a school are extremely proud of our English results: our children achieve above the national KS2 standard in Writing, Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar and Reading, at both the Expected Standard and Higher Standard.  Co-ordinator monitoring shows that teachers are confident, creative and skilled in their delivery of English at Netherthong and their own love of writing and reading permeates through the classrooms, instilling a love within the children.  Governors monitor and review standards termly. 

Our children are more than well-prepared for their English journey at secondary school.  To return to Pam Allyn’s starting quote, what our children have ‘breathed in’ through our carefully planned curriculum, is indeed ‘breathed out’ in the writing that they produce. 

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