Writing at Bexton

Every child a writer. Every sentence accurate. Every voice heard.

Writing is the hardest thing we ask children to do. It asks them to hold an idea in mind, find the words for it, shape those words into accurate sentences, spell them, form the letters, and keep all of that going across a whole piece of work.

Because writing asks so much at once, we teach it in parts. Handwriting, spelling and sentence construction are each taught deliberately so that they become automatic. A child who has to stop and think about how to form a letter or spell a word has less attention left for what they actually want to say. Getting these things off the ground is what frees a child to write well.

Composition: Ready Steady Write

From Year 1 to Year 6, writing is taught through Ready Steady Write, a programme built around high-quality books.

Each unit lasts around a half term and is built on a vehicle text: a novel, picture book or non-fiction title chosen because it is beautifully written and worth reading aloud. Children read it, talk about it, and then learn to write from it.

Every unit follows the same four stages, so children always know where they are in the process.

• Immerse. Children meet the text and the theme. This might begin with a mystery object, some drama, or a discussion that hooks them in.

• Analyse. Children study how the writing works: who it is for, what it is trying to do, how it is structured and what makes the language effective.

• Plan. Children gather vocabulary and ideas, and plan their own piece against the structure they have studied.

• Write. Children write at length, then edit and improve their work.

Every unit ends in a real piece of writing with a clear purpose and a real audience. Children always know who they are writing for and why.

The books we use are chosen carefully and over seven years your child will meet a body of literature they might otherwise never encounter. Titles include Where the Wild Things Are and The Last Wolf in Year 1, The Iron Man and A Midsummer Night's Dream in Year 3, and Rose Blanche and Shackleton's Journey in Year 6.

In Reception, children do not follow Ready Steady Write. They work through Drawing Club, which builds the foundations writing depends on: oral storytelling, vocabulary, imagination and the physical act of mark-making. A child who can tell a story, hold a pencil properly and hear the sounds in a word is ready to write. A child who cannot is not, however good the writing scheme. This mirrors our approach in mathematics, where we secure the foundations before the main programme begins.

Sentence accuracy

Alongside the writing unit, children have regular short sessions focused on constructing accurate sentences. The teacher models a sentence with a particular feature, and then children write their own.

This is where grammar and punctuation are actually learned. Recognising a fronted adverbial in someone else's sentence is one thing; writing one of your own that works is another, and it is the second that we are after. These sessions build the fluency and stamina that longer pieces of writing demand.

Spelling

Spelling is taught systematically rather than left to weekly lists to be learned and forgotten.

In Reception and Year 1, spelling develops alongside phonics. Children are taught to hear the sounds in a word and write the letters that represent them, which is the same knowledge they use for reading, applied in reverse.

From Year 2 to Year 6, spelling is taught through Ready Steady Spell. Children learn rules and patterns, rather than lists of unrelated words, so what they learn transfers to words they have not met before. Alongside this, they learn the statutory word lists set out in the National Curriculum for their year group.

Handwriting

Handwriting is taught explicitly from Reception to Year 6 through Ready Steady Handwrite.

In Reception, children start with the movements that letters are built from: curves, straight lines, arches and descenders. Letters are then taught in families that share the same movement, rather than in alphabetical order, because that is how the hand learns.

Year 1 secures letter formation, capital letters and digits. Year 2 introduces joins. Year 3 extends joining, and from Year 4 onwards children consolidate a fully joined style, practising with the very words they are learning to spell so that the two reinforce each other.

We expect the handwriting taught in these lessons to be used in all written work, not only in handwriting books.

How we check how your child is doing

Writing is judged by what children actually produce so teachers assess continuously as children write and intervene while a piece is still being composed rather than waiting until it is finished.

At the end of each unit, teachers review what children have produced and identify what to focus on next, which shapes the following unit.

Writing is the subject where judgements vary most between teachers so we moderate carefully. Staff meet each term to compare children's work and agree standards together. We also take part in No More Marking, a national comparative judgement project. Teachers compare pieces of writing in pairs to produce a reliable score for each child, and because the writing is judged alongside work from thousands of other schools, it tells us how our standards compare nationally, not just how our children compare with each other.

Children are also taught to assess their own writing. Editing is taught, not assumed. Children are shown what to look for, given time to do it, and expected to improve their work rather than simply correct it.

How you can help at home

• Talk. Children write what they can say. Conversation about what you have done, seen or read builds the vocabulary and sentence structures they will use in writing.

• Read together. Children learn to write from what they read. Sharing books is writing practice, even when no pencil is involved.

• Encourage writing with a purpose. Shopping lists, birthday cards, messages to relatives, a note left out for someone. Writing that someone will actually read is worth far more than writing for its own sake.

• Praise effort and content, not just neatness. A child who has had a good idea and struggled to get it down has done something hard.

• Practise spellings in short bursts and practise the handwriting we teach. Your child's teacher can show you the letter formation we use.

Want to know more?

Our full Writing Handbook and Writing Curriculum Progression document set out how writing, spelling and handwriting are taught in each year group. These are working documents for staff but we are happy to share them. Please contact the school office if you would like to see them.

Writing is led by Mrs Day across the Infants and Mrs Yardley-Goldrick across the Juniors. Both are pleased to answer questions about writing at Bexton.