English - Writing

Intent

At Western House Academy, we believe that every child can communicate effectively and confidently as a writer!

Values:

Our aim is to foster confident, creative, and ambitious writers who view writing as an enjoyable and purposeful activity. They view the ability to communicate through writing as an essential life skill.

Knowledge:

Pupils will acquire a secure knowledge of a wide range of text types (genres), understanding the underlying structure and key features of each (narrative, report, persuasion, instruction). Pupils will develop and use sophisticated vocabulary and accurate grammar, selecting and applying these tools to consider reader impact. Pupils will understand that the ultimate goal of writing is communication and that successful writing involves a deliberate selection of language and style based on the audience and purpose.

Equality:

We believe that every pupil develops the fundamental ability to communicate effectively in writing, regardless of their starting point or background. 

Experience:

Pupils will experience the full writing cycle: from immersion via hooks and real life experiences, planning and drafting through to effective proofreading, editing, and revision. This link between audience and purpose will drive all aspects of our writing curriculum.

Handwriting and Spelling:

At Western House Academy, we believe that fluent, legible handwriting and accurate spelling are foundational skills that allow the writing process to become automatic, freeing up cognitive resources for creative composition. Our intent is to ensure every pupil develops these essential tools to become effective communicators.

• Legibility and Fluency: To equip pupils with a rapid, fluid, and automatic handwriting style (joined script by KS2) that does not impede the speed or complexity of their thoughts. Handwriting must be consistently legible, ensuring that the reader can fully access the pupil's intended meaning without distraction.

• Accuracy and Confidence: To provide pupils with the systematic knowledge of phonological, morphological, and etymological spelling patterns outlined in the National Curriculum. This knowledge is designed to build spelling confidence so that pupils can confidently apply rules and strategies to accurately spell both common and unfamiliar words across all subjects.

• Cognitive Load: To embed these skills to the point of mastery, minimising the cognitive load associated with the mechanical act of writing, thereby allowing pupils to concentrate on the higher-level skills of composition, vocabulary selection, and audience/purpose.

Implementation

Writing is an important part of our curriculum and is an integral part of all of our lessons. Pupils write a range of text types.  The inspiration for their writing is linked to their whole class reading books which are shared with the children in their daily reading lessons. Writing is taught in blocks which last for 3 weeks:

• Week 1: Hook, features of the genre and skills.

Children are introduced to the genre by means of a hook. The aim is to spark curiosity and excitement. The teacher introduces a high-quality model text, often written specifically for the unit. The class learns the text (or part of the text in Years 5 and 6)  by heart through story maps, repetition and expressive delivery in the form of actions. Children are subsequently guided through the model text identifying the structural elements, language features and skills needed. Skills are then taught explicitly through grammar lessons. 

• Week 2: Planning: 

Pupils will plan their writing using boxing up strategies to organise their ideas and provide structure to their work. This enables specific focus to be placed on including specific skills taught and allows the children to see the transition from learning a model text to creating their own ideas - known as their ‘innovation’. Pupils may work as a whole class, in pairs or independently during this stage, generating ideas and talking their ideas through with their partner. Post planning, emphasis is placed on live teacher modelling of the writing process. This is done in small manageable chunks to allow the children to see how to turn a plan into a piece of writing with emphasis placed on specific skills taught in week 1. In Years 5 and 6 the use of chromebooks is encouraged when drafting, enabling the teacher to offer real time and immediate feedback during the lesson. 

• Week 3: Write, edit and publish: 

Pupils continue to apply their existing and newly acquired knowledge to the text type being taught and complete their draft pieces over the course of the week. During this stage, the teacher will model to the pupils how to edit and improve their writing.  Specific reference is made on the writing framework for each year group enabling children to recognise their own strengths and targeted areas needed for growth. 

 At Western House Academy, the writer’s craft is taught in a range of ways:

Modelled Writing

The teacher thinks aloud while writing to show children how a writer makes choices. They model specific skills like punctuation, word selection, or editing, clearly explaining the strategy used.

Shared Writing

Pupils contribute ideas and thoughts while the teacher does the actual writing. The teacher models a specific skill, and the class discusses and collaboratively chooses the most effective language and structure.

Guided Group Writing

The teacher works with a small group identified by need or target. The focus is on practising one specific skill (e.g., using better conjunctions) in a focused task, addressing gaps and common errors directly.

Independent Writing

Children apply learned skills to write their own complete piece within a specific genre. They are encouraged to manage the whole process: plan, draft, edit, and publish their final work.

Handwriting

EYFS: Pre-writing skills, gross motor development, and correct pencil grip.

Daily dedicated sessions focusing on letter formation using the agreed whole-school script. Emphasis on sitting posture, paper positioning, and the use of multi-sensory tools (e.g., sand trays, air writing).

Key Stage 1: Letter formation, size consistency, ascending/descending letters, and the introduction of a basic joined (cursive) style.

Explicitly taught as part of the daily writing lesson. Short, focused drills (5-10 minutes) ensure consistency. Pupils move to joined script as soon as correct letter formation is secure. Consistent modelling by all staff is non-negotiable.

Key Stage 2: Developing speed, fluency, and maintaining a consistent, personalized joined style.

Regular, short practice sessions to refine speed and consistency. Handwriting is monitored across all subjects, with feedback focusing on fluency and maintaining legibility over longer pieces of work. Additional daily sessions incorporated into writing lessons as appropriate. 

Spelling

EYFS & KS1: Synthetic phonics, applying grapheme-phoneme correspondence, and learning high-frequency and common exception words.

Taught within writing and as a standalone lesson. Uses a multisensory approach (look, cover, write, check) and focuses on the explicit rules from the phonics programme. Spelling is directly linked to the sounds being learned.

Key Stage 2: Statutory word lists, spelling rules (prefixes, suffixes, morphology), and etymology.

Dedicated, weekly standalone spelling lessons using the National Curriculum progression. Lessons focus on investigating the rules rather than just memorising words. Pupils keep a personal record of challenging words and are taught metacognitive strategies (e.g., using known words as a guide).

Impact

Our aim is for every child at WHA to develop into a confident, articulate, and skilled writer. 

• Children acquire, retain, and apply technical vocabulary and grammatical understanding, building a rich toolkit to enhance their writing quality.

• Children have a clear understanding of the writing process, from planning and drafting to editing and publishing.

• Children understand that writing is one means of communicating with others and they develop their ability to articulate themselves clearly through this medium. They learn to structure their thoughts and express their ideas persuasively and precisely.

• Children can apply their writing knowledge across the curriculum to write for a variety of purposes. Whether they are explaining a scientific process, reporting on a historical event, or crafting a poem, their writing skills effectively support their learning in all subjects.

• All writing is well-presented, demonstrating the care and attention our pupils put into their work.

When children leave WHA, we want them to be effective, enthusiastic communicators who have the stamina and skill to express themselves articulately and confidently in any situation, for any purpose.