Writing

Writing Intent

Our primary goal for English writing is to foster a lifelong love for language and storytelling while equipping our students with the essential skills they need to communicate effectively, express their creativity, and become confident writers. Our intent is to provide a well-rounded English writing curriculum that empowers every child to:

1. Develop Fundamental Skills: We aim to ensure that every student masters the foundational skills of spelling, grammar, and punctuation, which are essential for clear and coherent writing.
2. Foster a Love for Reading: We believe that strong readers make strong writers. Our intention is to instil a passion for reading in our students by exposing them to a wide range of high-quality literature.
3. Cultivate Creative Expression: We encourage our students to unleash their imagination through creative writing. We want them to see writing as a form of self-expression and provide opportunities for them to create stories, poems, and narratives.
4. Build Confidence: Our English writing program is designed to boost students' confidence in their writing abilities. We provide constructive feedback, celebrate their successes, and create a supportive environment where they can take risks in their writing.
5. Develop Critical Thinking: We intend to nurture critical thinking skills by teaching students to analyse texts, express their opinions, and construct well-structured arguments. We want them to become effective communicators in both written and verbal forms.
6. Promote Digital Literacy: In today's digital age, writing extends beyond pen and paper. We aim to teach our students to adapt their writing skills to various digital platforms and media, ensuring they are well-prepared for the future.
7. Celebrate Diversity: We recognise the importance of diversity in literature and writing. Our curriculum includes texts from various cultures and backgrounds, allowing students to explore different perspectives and voices.
8. Engage in Real-World Writing: We provide opportunities for our students to engage in real-world writing tasks, such as letter writing, journalism, and persuasive essays, so they can understand the practical applications of their skills.
9. Assess Progress and Individualise Learning: Our intent is to regularly assess students' progress and tailor our teaching to meet their individual needs, ensuring that each child can reach their full writing potential.

In summary, our intent for English writing at Western is to empower our primary school students with the knowledge, skills, and passion for writing that will serve as a strong foundation for their future academic and personal success. We strive to create a nurturing and stimulating environment where every child can thrive as a confident and expressive writer.

Writing skills

At Western, we aim for the children to become confident and ambitious writers. To reach that goal, children regularly practise and revisit handwriting, spelling and grammar. High level vocabulary is explicitly taught. The children are encouraged to orally rehearse their writing. Writing is revised and edited before being published.

Exceptional Learning

High expectations are evident throughout the curriculum, at Western, and the use of the iPads, in writing, is no exception. The iPads can be used to research, gather and quickly share information relating to various genres of writing. Our children are competent at accessing higher level vocabulary through the use of online dictionaries and thesauruses. Apps such as Spelling Frame, Nessy and Clicker are widely used throughout the school, in order to personalise the children’s learning. The iPads are especially useful during speaking and listening activities as the children can record their learning in different ways. This can be invaluable for special educational needs children, for example when using the voice notes app.