‘A writer from Castle Primary School will:

• write for pleasure;

• develop automatic transcription skills to relieve the cognitive load on their working memory;

• develop a rich vocabulary which they use confidently and effectively in a range of writing genres;

• be familiar with writing in a range of genres for a range of real purposes and audiences including narratives, poems and non-fiction texts; and

• be able to confidently talk about their writing, explaining their decisions at each stage of the writing process and reasons for vocabulary choice.’

Castle Primary School’s Writing Curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge and skills for future learning and employment.  Castle Primary School is determined that every pupil will learn to write, regardless of their background, needs or abilities.  All pupils, including the weakest writers will make sufficient progress to meet or exceed age-related expectations.

We believe that great writers are built on strong foundations. Writing, including the teaching of handwriting, and spelling (through the application of systemic, synthetic phonics), is taught from the beginning of Reception using RWInc.   As children progress through Key Stage 1 and into Key Stage 2, children continue to develop the phonics, spelling, handwriting and vocabulary skills required for successful written communication. These core skills allow pupils to write with increasing accuracy, fluency and confidence, enabling them to focus on expressing their ideas creatively and purposefully across the curriculum.  

The sequence of teaching writing at Castle Primary School shows a cumulative progression in genres of text, grammatical construction of sentences/paragraphing, use of a rich and varied vocabulary and spelling patterns.  Teachers at Castle Primary School give pupils sufficient practice in writing, including planning, proof-reading, editing and re-editing to support the progression of their writing.

The ongoing assessment of pupils’ phonics, spelling, handwriting and writing progress is sufficiently frequent and detailed to identify any pupil who is falling behind. If they do fall behind, targeted support is given immediately.

Castle Primary School has developed expertise in the teaching of writing to enable this to be implemented.