At Ribbon, we want our children to acquire a wide vocabulary, with an understanding of grammar, and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language with an evaluative approach to recognise authorial intent, so that such strategies can be applied purposefully in their own writing across a multitude of text types.
Our Writing Curriculum Overview outlines the essential details to ensure full coverage of the National Curriculum whilst providing our teachers with the tools required to support the development of efficient writers. These details include: –
- A broad and balanced range of Class Books to be shared;
- Focused text types to exemplify key text features to support the application to each child’s own writing skills; and
- Grammar features to be taught in context with clear purpose
Teaching is planned around a half termly class novel, carefully selected to ensure exposure to quality literature, further develop cultural capital and engage in the work of a variety of authors. Each half term, there will be at least two writing cycles, each lasting up to three weeks. A balance of author purpose is evident across each term giving the children at Ribbon the opportunity to write to entertain, inform and/or persuade.
At Ribbon, the adopted writing cycle provides children with the required support, knowledge and skills to imitate, innovate and invent through their writing.
Firstly, a modelled text is provided for all learners to develop familiarisation and exposure with the focus text type, whilst providing the opportunity to identify and extract the essential features of the text. The quality resources of ‘Grammarsaurus’ (and other high-quality texts/ writing stimuli) are located and amended for purpose (if required) to ensure they exemplify expectations; expose children to high-level vocabulary; whilst engaging children into the content to provide the knowledge required to write independently.
Subsequent lessons aim to:
- develop a wide and ambitious vocabulary which will be evident in their writing,
- learn about, practise and apply the knowledge of key grammatical features
- successfully translate orally spoken content to the written word
- develop planning skills to ensure clear intent when writing
- build confidence in own writing showcasing an increased level of independence, creativity and intent when writing
- know themselves better as a writer, through feedback
- self-evaluate, edit and improve writing
- use age-related writing structures with increasing confidence and fluency
- develop stamina when writing at length
- establish own flare as an author explaining intent
Our progressive curriculum aims to ensure all children become confident and effective writers as they move through the key stages, with a want to write and the knowledge to accurately and coherently, adapt their language and writing style and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences.
