Intent
At Market Drayton Infant and Nursery School, we aim to inspire all children to become confident, enthusiastic, and capable writers. We believe that writing is a fundamental life skill that enables children to communicate their ideas, thoughts, feelings, and experiences effectively.
Through a language-rich curriculum, high-quality texts, and purposeful writing opportunities, we develop children’s creativity, vocabulary, and understanding of different forms of writing. We teach the essential skills of handwriting, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and composition progressively, enabling children to write with increasing accuracy, fluency, and independence.
We strive to create motivated writers who take pride in their work, adapt their writing for different purposes and audiences, and develop resilience when editing and improving their work. Through meaningful and engaging experiences, children build the confidence to express themselves and see themselves as successful writers.
By the end of Key Stage 1, we aim for all pupils to have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to communicate effectively in writing and to be well prepared for the next stage of their learning journey.
In order to teach writing, we place a high emphasis on the fact that children need to be able to talk about what they want to say before they are able to write it. This has helped to shape our writing curriculum and how we teach writing.
Implementation
Writing is taught through a progressive and engaging curriculum that develops the skills, knowledge, and confidence children need to become successful writers. Writing opportunities are carefully planned across the curriculum and are often linked to high-quality texts, real-life experiences, and meaningful contexts to inspire and motivate children.
Children are taught the key components of writing through a structured approach. This includes the explicit teaching of vocabulary, sentence construction, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and handwriting. Teachers model the writing process, demonstrating how to plan, draft, edit, and improve writing so that pupils understand the skills required to be effective writers.
In the Early Years, children develop the foundations for writing through talk, storytelling, mark making, fine motor activities, and early phonics teaching. As they progress through Key Stage 1, children are given regular opportunities to write for different purposes and audiences, applying their growing knowledge of phonics, spelling, grammar, and composition skills.
Handwriting is taught regularly to ensure correct letter formation and presentation utilising the Write Rules programme.
Spelling is supported through the systematic teaching of phonics and the application of learned spelling patterns and common exception words.
Impact
Teachers use ongoing assessment to inform planning and identify next steps in learning. Feedback is provided throughout the writing process to support progress and enable children to edit and improve their work. Additional support and challenge are provided where appropriate to ensure all pupils can achieve success.
Through consistent teaching, high expectations, and a language-rich environment, children are supported to become confident writers who can communicate their ideas effectively and take pride in their work.
