English Writing and Grammar,
Punctuation and Spelling
Written and spoken language is a means to communicating effectively in life, but it is also the doorway to magical and exciting worlds! Through a carefully planned and rich curriculum, we enable our learners to become confident communicators, who are equipped to succeed now and in the future.
Intent: What we expect children to learn
At Moordown St John’s, we aim to ignite an enthusiasm for writing and the confidence to communicate with others. Through our carefully sequenced English Writing and Oral Communication curriculum, we aim to provide children with meaningful series of lessons, based on high-quality texts. We believe that all children should confidently be able to communicate their knowledge, ideas and emotions through their writing and speaking. Over time, children acquire a wide vocabulary, secure foundation of grammar and the ability to spell new words by applying their understanding of taught spelling rules.
Our children are given a wide range of opportunities to write for a variety of contexts, purposes and audiences across the different curriculum areas, such as science, history and RE. Where possible, the children are provided with the chance to write for real contexts and purposes so they understand their audience and see the value in their writing.
Implementation: How we teach the subject
Our English curriculum is delivered in a way that recognises the varied needs of our children and allows each individual to maximise their learning potential through both support and challenge.
Each unit of writing begins with exposure to a high-quality exemplar text. As a class, the children are given the opportunity to analyse this in order to identify the structural and language features and discuss the audience and purpose of the text. Following on from that, word and sentence level work enables the development of sentence construction and promotion of rich vocabulary. Within each unit, oracy plays a vital role in allowing for idea generation and encouraging discussion. Shared writing plays an important role too, and this collaborative approach of modelling enables pupils to contribute their ideas and thoughts.
At the end of a writing unit, children independently draft their own written piece using the skills and vocabulary they’ve practised and developed. When the children have finished drafting, teachers provide time for the children to edit and refine their work then it is shared and displayed when possible.
Grammar and punctuation are taught in a weekly discrete lesson and then also re-visited in subsequent lesson starters. Spelling is also taught in a weekly discrete lesson where a specific spelling pattern or set of common exception words are explored. When spelling, children are encouraged to draw upon their phonetic understanding by segmenting sounds in words where appropriate. Children are given weekly spelling lists that are regularly practised in school and sent home.
Impact: How we evaluate the knowledge and skills they have learned
As a result of the English Writing and Oral Communication curriculum, our children will make progress and develop their ability to write and speak with confidence, fluency and understanding. We give them regular opportunities to revise key concepts so they have the chance to revisit and embed their learning and are also aware of their next steps.
We use a variety of strategies to evaluate the knowledge, skills and understanding that our children have gained in each unit; using both formative and summative assessment to track their progress.
By the end of their time at Moordown St John’s, pupils will have:
- experienced writing a range of genres
- developed an understanding of writing for different purposes and audiences in real life contexts
- evolved a wide vocabulary
- developed a thorough understanding of grammar, punctuation and spelling
- grown in confidence in their speaking and listening