Writing & SPAG
Intent
At TRPA Primary School we believe that a quality English curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, ability to read fluently, writing and discussion. We aim to inspire an appreciation of our rich literary heritage and a habit of reading widely and often. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We want to inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and to be able to use discussion to communicate and further their learning.
We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledge-base, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum. We believe that having firm foundations in literacy skills is crucial to a high-quality education and will give our children the tools they need to participate fully as a member of society.
Implementation
These aims are embedded across our English lessons and the wider curriculum. We have a rigorous and well organised English curriculum that provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. Teachers use the Herts For Learning, Hamilton Trust and CLPE as appropriate to their classes, but also ensure that cross curricular links with concurrent topic work are woven into the programme of study. Our curriculum closely follows the aims of the National Curriculum for English 2014 and ensures that pupils are being exposed to a wide range of genres and opportunities to write for different purposes.
The National Curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:
- Read easily, fluently and with good understanding.
- Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information.
- Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language.
- Appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage.
- Write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences.
- Use discussion to learn; they should be able to elaborate and clearly explain their understanding and ideas.
- Are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.
In addition to daily English lessons, children develop early reading skills through the use of the Read Write Inc. programme from Reception – Year 2. Reading skills continue to be developed through reading of phonically appropriate books, which ensure that children’s skills grow to match the demands of more complex texts.
We use a wide variety of quality texts and resources to motivate and inspire our children. We also provide a wealth of enrichment opportunities, from celebrating World Book Day within our school community each year to inviting authors to visit and share their love of stories and their professions of being authors and illustrators. In this way, children benefit from access to positive role models from the local and wider world around them.
Any children who do not initially make the expected progress are assessed and supported through targeted intervention in order to ensure that they are able to achieve their full potential.
Impact
As a result, we have a community of enthusiastic readers and writers who enjoy showcasing their developing literacy knowledge and skills; confident to take risks in their reading and writing, and love to discuss and share their ideas.
year 1
In Year 1, children will learn to write sentences, discuss their writing, and read their writing aloud. Pupils are offered opportunities to practice their writing through play, exploration and within curriculum lessons. Pupils in Key Stage one participate in our Phonics Programme on a daily basis.
Composition in Year 1
Write sentences by:
- saying what they are going to write about out loud
- composing a sentence orally before writing it
- sequencing sentences to form short narratives
- re-reading what they have written to check that it makes sense.
- discuss what they have written with the teacher or other pupils
- read aloud their writing clearly enough to be heard by their peers and the teacher.
Handwriting in Year 1
In KS1, your child will learn to correctly use a pencil, to form letters and numbers, and to write words.
- sit correctly at a table, holding a pencil comfortably and correctly
- form lowercase letters in the correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place
- form capital letters
- form digits 0–9
- understand which letters belong to which handwriting ‘families’ (letters that are formed in similar ways)
- leave spaces between words.
Grammar & punctuation in Year 1
In Year 1, your child will use some key features of grammar and punctuation in their writing.
- Leaving spaces between words
- Combining words to make sentences
- Joining words and clauses using 'and'
- Using capital letters, full stops, question marks, and exclamation marks
- Using capital letters for names and using 'I' properly
- Turning words into plurals using -s or -es
- Adding suffixes to verbs without changing the root word
- Using the prefix un- to change the meaning of verbs and adjectives
- Putting sentences together to make small narratives
Spelling in Year 1
In Year 1, your child will learn about the alphabet and will learn to spell some basic words.
- Spelling words using the 40+ phonemes they have already learnt
- Spelling common exception words
- Spelling the days of the week
- Naming the letters of the alphabet
- Adding some prefixes and suffixes to words
year 2
In Year 2, children grow in confidence as they develop their knowledge of grammar and punctuation, as well as their speaking, reading, and writing skills. At The Rushmere Park Academy we utilise the literacy scheme of work from Hamilton to extend and enthuse our pupils literacy journey.
Children will become more familiar with spelling words using their phonics skills and will be able to recognise and spell many common and tricky words such as because. They will be encouraged to explore their own ideas through creative writing and poetry and will be taught how to use apostrophes correctly. Much of their learning will come from reading, talking, and listening.
Composition
In Year 2, children will learn to create lots of different types of writing, to plan their work, and to edit work they have already written. This includes:
- writing for a range of purposes, including fictional stories, non-fiction texts, and poetry
- getting ready to write by writing or orally laying out a simple plan
- making simple additions, revisions, and corrections to their own reading.
Spelling
In Year 2, children will learn to spell lots more tricky words and will start using apostrophes in their spelling. This includes:
- learning new graphemes to represent the phonemes they have already learnt
- using suffixes like -ment, -ness, -ful, -less, and -ly
- using apostrophes to mark where letters are missing and to mark possession.
Handwriting
In Year 2, children will learn to form letters at the right size and to join letters when appropriate. This includes:
- forming lowercase and capital letters at the right size relative to one another
- starting to use diagonal and horizontal strokes to join letters
- using appropriate spacing between words.
Vocabulary
In Year 2 children will be offered opportunities to improve and expand their vocabulary throughout their time at school. Pupils will experience a variety of reading books, suitable to their phonetical knowledge and understanding, Class readers, drama, and the literacy based phonics programme reading scheme books.
year 3
This is the beginning of Lower Key Stage 2. Pupils will experience an increased focus on spelling, and an expansion of their reading and writing into new genres and styles. Phonics is still available to all pupils however, the main Literacy planning is through the Hamilton scheme of work, which incorporates more emphasis on learning grammar and punctuation.
Composition
In Year 3, children will learn to plan in detail, to use imaginative ideas, and to write with a particular purpose in mind. This includes:
- talking about similar pieces of writing, and using these to help them plan their own
- using a rich vocabulary and a range of sentence structures
- creating settings, characters, and plots for stories
- using simple organisational devices (for example, headings and sub-headings) for non-fiction
- proof-reading for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.
Spelling
In Year 3, children will learn to spell more complex word forms and will start to use dictionaries. This includes:
- spelling lots of homophones correctly
- spelling words that are often misspelt. Pupils will be taught spellings as per the year 3 and 4 spelling word list.
- using the possessive apostrophe with regular and irregular plurals.
Handwriting
In Year 3, children will start developing fluent handwriting skills, making their writing more consistent and easier to read. This includes:
- joining letters whenever appropriate
- making sure that letters look consistent throughout writing
- keeping the spacing between lines of writing parallel and consistent.
Vocabulary
Children will be expected to improve and expand their vocabulary throughout their time at school. Children will experience a wider range of reading materials, experiences to expand their vocabulary. Children begin to explore and utilise thesauruses and dictionaries to expand their vocabulary and develop independent learning skills. Children are encouraged to read on a daily basis, in school and at home.
year 4
In Year 4, we will nurture and encourage independent thinking, learning, and decision-making in the children.
Children will begin to know more complex punctuation like inverted commas and apostrophes, will learn key spellings, and will continue to develop their reading and writing. This is also the first year most children will graduate from using a pencil to using a pen – this can be a great incentive to improve handwriting!
Composition
At The Rushmere Park Academy we build on the children’s previous knowledge, embedding this knowledge in activities which extends their learning, utilising higher order thinking, reasoning and questioning.
- to use imaginative ideas, and to write with a particular purpose in mind. This includes:
- talking about similar pieces of writing, and using these to help them plan their own
- using a rich vocabulary and a range of sentence structures
- creating settings, characters, and plots for stories
- using simple organisational devices (for example, headings and sub-headings) for non-fiction
- proof-reading for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors
Spelling
In Year 4 pupils will build upon their previous spelling knowledge by continuing to spell more complex word forms and to use dictionaries. This includes:
- spelling lots of homophones correctly
- spelling words that are often misspelt (
- using the possessive apostrophe with regular and irregular plurals.
Handwriting
Children will build upon their learning by continuing to develop fluent handwriting skills, making their writing more consistent and easier to read. This includes:
- joining letters whenever appropriate
- making sure that letters look consistent throughout writing
- keeping the spacing between lines of writing parallel and consistent.
Vocabulary
Your child will be expected to improve and expand their vocabulary throughout their time at school. Our curriculum is bespoke to our children, learning for a purpose, encouraging children to have ownership of their learning journey. With ownership comes independent learning and an incentive to explore new vocabulary, books and topics. Inspiring and igniting aspirations for the young adults of the future.
