Intent

At Ilchester Community Primary School, we aim to inspire and support all children to become confident, motivated and capable writers. Writing is an essential life skill that enables children to communicate effectively, express their ideas and emotions, develop their imagination and engage successfully with the wider curriculum and the world around them. Children are encouraged to write for a range of audiences and purposes and to understand that writing provides opportunities to inform, entertain, persuade, explain and share ideas with others.

The teaching of writing encompasses two dimensions:

• Transcription (spelling and handwriting).
• Composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing).

We recognise that children need secure transcription skills so that they can concentrate increasingly on the content and effectiveness of their writing. Children are therefore taught to develop accurate spelling, fluent and legible handwriting and an increasingly secure understanding of sentence construction, grammar and punctuation.

Composition involves developing ideas and organising them clearly for a reader. Children learn to consider the audience and purpose of their writing and make increasingly deliberate choices about vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, organisation and level of formality.

Spoken language is fundamental to the development of writing. Children are given regular opportunities to discuss, orally rehearse and refine ideas and sentences before and during writing.

From Reception onwards, children are taught the foundations of writing systematically. As children progress through the school, they develop increasing fluency, independence and control, ultimately becoming writers who can plan, draft, revise and edit their work effectively.

High-quality texts are at the heart of our writing curriculum. They provide children with examples of effective writing and inspire their own work. Wherever possible, children are given meaningful reasons to write and opportunities to share and celebrate their writing.