Writing
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Writing is in 5 categories:
- to entertain (KS1 & KS2)
- to inform (KS1 & KS2)
- to persuade (KS2)
- to discuss (KS2)
- poetry (KS1 & KS2)
At Holmes Chapel Primary School, our children learn to write fluently in a range of different genres and communicate their ideas clearly. Our writing cycle develops through each year group building on skills: from considering purpose, audience and text type to scaffolding, teacher modelling and independent writing including skills such as proof reading and editing.
Enjoy, Explore, Practice & Apply
Enjoy – With our reader hats on – look at stimulus, how does it make you feel using reading comprehension strategies?
Explore – Reading and exploring language and vocabulary structures. What magic has the author used?
Practice – Modelled writing
Apply – Independent writing
- Stimulus include high quality texts and real events (Enjoy)
- Technical grammar and punctuation is taught in discrete lessons as well as in context (Explore)
- Rich writing opportunities so that the children can be creative inspired and love writing (Practice & Apply)
Spelling
We aim for confident spellers who are enthusiastic and excited by their use of language and the knowledge of words. Our younger children learn how to segment to spell in phonics lessons following the Little Wandle phonics scheme followed by spelling rules in line with the Spelling Shed scheme.
We teach the children to make links between sounds and letters (phonics), understand the word structure (morphology) and the spelling structure (orthography) of words.
Reception and Year 1: Early spelling is taught through segmenting to spell in phonics lessons. The reading and spelling of tricky words in taught in daily phonics lessons
Years 2 – 6: Spelling is taught through the spelling shed scheme (3-5 x per week)
Handwriting
Children learn to have the skills to be able to write fluently, legibly, and with automaticity and speed. We want confident writers who can successfully form letters with correct and relative size, form different strokes to join adjacent letters, and eventually make conscious decisions to join or understand when letters are best left un-joined.
Handwriting is delivered through the Letterjoin scheme:
Reception:
- Handwriting starts by developing gross motor skills, noticing and making the pre-writing shapes in a variety of ways, not only through pencil and paper.
- Fine motor skills are developed through activities in the provision, such as playdough, threading, cutting, pegs, construction, etc.
- Formal practice of pre-writing shapes and letter shapes is introduced following the Letterjoin scheme and Little Wandle.
KS1:
- The writing of letters in lower case and upper case, and the formation of numbers 0-9 is taught as per the Letterjoin scheme grouped by letter families, focussing on direction and strokes.
KS2:
Handwriting is taught 3x per week focusing on strokes for joining, legibility, consistency and quality of writing.