English - Writing
"Writing is the painting of the voice" Voltaire b.1697
At Longford Park, we believe writing is the key to not only developing vital skills in communication, but also being an outlet to express one's creativity. Literacy is taught on a daily basis from EYFS through KS1 and KS2 based on a central high-quality text and supported and enhanced through links to our termly STEAM topics.
In the Early Years Foundation stage, the emphasis is on teaching literacy through stories and books; topic links; child initiated learning; play, as well as with high quality adult interactions. Children begin early mark making with a variety of resources, building up to developing an effective pencil grip to start forming letters and eventually words.
In KS1 and KS2 teaching and learning typically takes place within a whole class. The children will have a grammatical focus for each unit and learn to apply this through guided writing lessons modelled by the teacher. Children will also have the opportunity to write a ‘golden write’ every 2-3 weeks, showcasing all of the literary features they have learnt over the course of the unit. Over the course of the year, the children will write a variety of different text types – from non-fiction texts based on their STEAM learning to writing stories, diaries and even postcards.
Our teaching and learning approach across the whole curriculum is based on the Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) developed by Sweller (1988). Within English lessons, we are teaching all children to have a deep and secure understanding of the concepts that they are being taught. In order to do this, our curriculum is designed to reduce cognitive load by ensuring we structure and design lessons in small coherent steps, which organically allows opportunity for the promotion of retention. We do this by encouraging children to make frequent notes, and refer back to their learning on planning sheets. This allows for an inclusive learning environment where all children are supported to transfer learning from short-term to long-term memory.
Intent:
- To provide a language rich environment that promotes a culture of communication, reading and writing;
- To develop in pupils an interest in and a love of books and literature that will not only support their learning across the curriculum but also enrich their lives;
- To value and use books as a basis for learning, pleasure, talk and play;
- To teach children the craft of writing, including handwriting, in order to develop in children the confidence and skills to write well for a range of purposes and audience;
- To teach the basics – spelling, handwriting, grammar and punctuation – to ensure accuracy within creativity;
- To foster in pupils the confidence, desire and ability to express their views and opinions both orally and in writing;
- To raise the standards of communication, reading and writing so that every child makes the best progress they can;
- To value and celebrate diversity in culture and language.
