Writing

Learning to write is one of the most important things that a child will learn. Children use their writing in almost all other subjects of the curriculum. Good writing also gives children a voice to share their ideas with the world.

At Kenilworth, we believe that every child is a writer. We are passionate about developing every child’s knowledge, motivation and confidence in their writing. We have chosen HFL Education’s ESSENTIALWRITING as the basis of our writing curriculum for years 1-6. This is an ambitious and progressive writing scheme which provides our children with opportunities and tools to write for a range of specific purposes and authentic audiences. As a result, our children feel inspired and ready to write high-quality outcomes within the classroom but also have the knowledge, strategies and confidence to choose to write in their own lives. Please see the overview below for further detail on the progression within our writing curriculum:

Writing Overview

Updated: 07/10/2024 139 KB

Each year group has 13-16 teaching units, all of which use diverse and high-quality literature as good examples of writing craft and to help to motivate or inspire children to write.

ESSENTIALWRITING is fully aligned with the National Curriculum for English including writing composition, vocabulary, grammar & punctuation for each year group. Each writing unit is progressively structured and centred around the different writing purposes: to entertain; to inform; to persuade and to discuss. The writing purposes are also progressively sequenced across the school.

Follow this link to access the statutory content of the English objectives within the National Curriculum: English programmes of study: key stages 1 and 2 (publishing.service.gov.uk).  The information in our overview outlines our approach to the teaching of writing in each year group, which encompasses the teaching of the statutory content as outlined within the National Curriculum for writing for key stage one (Year 1 – Year 2), lower key stage two (Year 3 – 4) and upper key stage two (Year 5 – Year 6).  For this academic year, ESSENTIALWRITING is implemented in Y1 – Y6 but builds on the foundational learning from the EYFS.

Spelling

Alongside ESSENTIALWRITING, at Kenilworth, we have adopted ESSENTIALSPELLING as the basis of our spelling curriculum. In Key Stage 2, ESSENTIALSPELLING lessons are taught discreetly and then ESSENTIALWRITING supports our children to apply this learning in context, building their spelling confidence. Writing models reflect age-appropriate spelling objectives and children are taught how to monitor the accuracy of their writing. 

Handwriting

Handwriting is a key component of writing and at Kenilworth. We have adopted LetterJoin to ensure that every child gains sufficient fluency for writing, knowledge of accurate letter formation and how to join letters so that they can meet the National Curriculum expectations for each key stage. 

Handwriting Policy

Updated: 07/10/2024 105 KB
 

How can I help at home?

Reading: A fundamental way to support your child’s development with all aspects of English, is to read regularly with your child at home.

Give your child a reason to write: It is really important to give your child lots of opportunities to apply their writing, for example: letters, diaries, shopping lists…

Support your child with spellings:

  • Revisit the phase and high frequency word lists with your children – these can be found on each classes website page.
  • Use their phonics in a fun way by playing games online.

The following websites are all recommended for parents to support their children at home

Support your child with Handwriting: To support with handwriting, help your child develop their gross motor skills (throwing and catching etc.), fine motor skills (sewing, threading, using tweezers etc) and pen control. This is particularly helpful for children in EYFS and Key Stage 1 who will be developing their stamina.