Our approach to Writing

At Chesterton we strive to ensure that every child, by the time they finish primary school, can write in a manner which is clear, grammatically correct and engaging. As writing is a key life skill, we promote daily writing opportunities so that children can successfully write for a range of audiences and purposes.

The children’s enjoyment of writing will shine in their bold vocabulary choices, careful presentation and clear understanding of what they are writing about. Additionally, they will use precise grammatical terminology to discuss and learn from the works of notable authors and to explain their own writing choices. Their resulting skills, knowledge and passion for writing will lead to success in further education, employment and personal life endeavours.    

How we teach Writing

We use the following aspects to ensure our children are successful writers: 

• Transcription – including spelling, handwriting and presentation.
• Dictation - focussing on the core skills of creating a grammatically correct and simple sentence to ensure all children have a strong start in their writing journey
• Audience, purpose and genre.
• The writing journey – which includes planning and editing.
• Oracy.
• Vocabulary – including daily teaching of tier 2 vocabulary.
• Love of writing – inspiring children to have the ‘will’ to write by using high quality books as inspiration.

All of these aspects are evident in our lessons either daily or over a series of lessons.

Children are taught a grammar concept which helps them to write accurately and learn the correct terminology to discuss writing with precision, this is taught discretely or within a piece of writing depending on the complexity of the concept. It is also taught through a dictated sentence at the beginning of the lesson so children know how to use these grammatical concepts with confidence in their independent writing. In class, teachers collaboratively write example pieces of writing so that children have an exemplar model before they are expected to write themselves. This includes focus vocabulary, spelling and grammar.  Each year group has a range of texts that their writing is based on and every child has the opportunity to generate ideas for their writing inspired by their focus author. The children do this through a lot of oral rehearsal and discussion throughout the lesson.

Children will encounter the same grammar skills across the school to ensure they have mastered the concepts thoroughly and are introduced to increasingly complex grammar concepts as they progress each year.  The classroom working wall has a growing bank of tier two vocabulary to ensure children are provided with scaffolds to support their language choices. In Year 1, this also includes a growing bank of tricky words to support the children with their writing.

Children are provided with opportunities to craft a piece of writing over a number of days; this helps children build their writing stamina, implement the aspects of the writing journey and and gives them sufficient time to create a quality piece. Children’s personal writing targets are always accessible to them so they know their personal next steps in their writing journey

You can read our Chesterton curriculum progression for writing here. 

Useful links 

Oxford Owl

BBC – KS1 English

BBC – KS2 English

English Terminology Glossary for Parents