Writing has an important place in education and in society. It is an essential skill and the ability to write with confidence and accuracy is a tool which will support a child through life. It is our intent that our children understand the social functions of writing in order to use different genres of writing appropriately by considering its purpose and matching it to its audience. Furthermore, it is our intent that every child develops a progressive understanding of grammatical conventions, the way in which punctuation aids understanding and how to apply spelling rules. It is also our intent that all children have a joined, legible and increasingly efficient handwriting style. Through our teaching of writing, we intend to impart pupils with the knowledge, understanding and skills they need in order to reach their potential as individuals.
At Manchester Road we use the 'Write Stuff' scheme of learning to deliver the teaching of writing. Through this process the children use experience days and sentence stacking in order to build their writing pieces. Modelling is at the heart of the write stuff process, and our teachers are trained and skilled in teaching writing effectively. The Write stuff builds children's confidence in their ability to write, it widens their repertoire off writing purposes and allows them to gain an understanding of the 'whole piece' they are writing.
In 2021 - 22 the Write Stuff has been extended to include our Nursery and Reception classes - ensuring that the 'Fantastic Foundations' are in place alongside our phonics teaching.
Writing is taught daily at Manchester Road and the teachers use a range of assessment techniques to ensure the children make great progress. The marking and feedback process ensures children have the opportunity to 'Read, Reflect and Respond' to the feedback and to think of ways that their writing can be improved. At the end of each unit of work the children's writing is formally assessed and teachers note the targets for the children during the following unit.