English- Writing

Our approach to Writing:

“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write- change the world one word at a time...”

Martin Luther King

At St. Bartholomew’s, it is our intent to inspire all children to write by delivering an engaging and exciting curriculum. It is our aim to provide a rich, comprehensive writing programme, offering children a range of opportunities to develop as enthusiastic, confident and effective writers, who write for purpose and enjoyment. In addition, we aim to help all children develop into articulate and imaginative communicators, who are well-equipped with the skills they need to become life-long learners. As confident and competent writers, our children will have the opportunity to experience future career success leading to financial and economic well-being.

We believe that English is an essential part of the curriculum; a subject that not only stands alone, but one that should be an integral part of all learning.

Our writing curriculum aims to:

• To develop a love of reading, writing and language.
• To consider themselves as writers and to develop a love of writing, gaining pride in their written accomplishments.
• To know how to plan, edit and evaluate their writing effectively.
• To identify their own areas for improvement in their written work, editing their work effectively during and after the writing process.
• To have sufficient control over the mechanics of writing to allow for skilfull progression.
• To embed basic skills in order to widen their knowledge of vocabulary and grammar.
• To develop their writing so they are able to articulate, communicate and organise their ideas for the audience and purpose.
• To explore vocabulary rich texts that nurture imagination and produce purposeful writing opportunities.
• To write clearly, accurately and with purpose, adapting language and style for a range of genres.
• To take pride in the presentation and standard of their written work.

What does a writing lesson look like at St Bartholomew's?

Our school’s English curriculum makes appropriate links between texts studied in English lessons and the wider curriculum subjects so that children have knowledge of the context and vocabulary required to write competently about a given subject and as a starting point for their writing.

At St Bartholomew's, we have devised an approach to writing which we call 'Jigsaw Write'. This approach immerses our children in high-quality texts and engaging stimuli to enthuse and excite our children. Encompassing key principles from 'Talk for Writing' and 'The Write Stuff', we believe in the importance of developing a strong understanding of genre, audience and purpose within our pupils. Our pupils are taught to analyse key texts; zoning in and focusing on key techniques within particular sections of a writing genre before piecing together their final creation.

Throughout all writing units, our pupils explore high-quality models and have the opportunity to be part of effective shared writing experiences in which they can share, experiment, consolidate and develop their writing skills. Purposeful Grammar, punctuation and spelling lessons are interwoven into the planning cycle for a unit to ensure the children explore key concepts with a clear link to the genre they are studying. 

During writing lessons, all pupils can contribute to discussions about the written form and know that their opinions and individual skills and talents are valued by their peers and teachers. Staff have high expectations for all pupils to develop their writing skills as every pupil is valued. Pupils explore the work of current influences and key individuals from our literary heritage; they examine their use of language, and consider the vocabulary and grammar of Standard English and dialect variations. Pupils regard themselves as writers and value their own work and that of others.