Writing at Dallimore is based on a 5-step approach

1. Children familiarise themselves with a specific genre and plan their own writing.
2. A series of sentence-level sessions take place providing children with extensive practise of formulating quality sentences directly linked to the piece they will be drafting.
3. Children draft their own writing with specific scaffolds provided by the teacher including key vocabulary.
4. An independent write is the final part of the sequence – children write an independent piece based on the same genre.
5. At various points throughout the year, children have the opportunity to publish their writing.

Click the image below to view the writing structure

Throughout the teaching sequence, children respond to a mix of whole class and personalised feedback in order to improve their writing.

The writing sequence is based on principles established by the EEF for improving literacy outcomes at KS1 and KS2.

In the EYFS, children focus on:

• Forming lower-case and capital letters correctly.
• Spelling words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with letter/s.
• Writing short sentences with words with known sound-letter correspondences using a capital letter and full stop.
• Re-reading what they have written to check that it makes sense

In KS1 and KS2, most units of writing are based on the class novel or the history or geography unit taking place at the time.

Key and ambitious vocabulary is provided for children in every writing session. We recognise the difference an extended vocabulary makes to a child’s progression across the curriculum, and we encourage children to use this vocabulary within their writing. As children progress into Years 4, 5 and 6, we actively encourage them to identify synonyms of provided vocabulary to further widen their vocabulary and personalise their writing.

Example models are written by teachers and the writing subject lead. This ensures consistency across the phases and ensures that there is an appropriate level of challenge for all children. These models are used to inform planning for the sentence-level sessions, and they drive the teacher modelling during the drafting sessions. Children have the opportunity to revisit genres throughout their time at school. In addition to teacher-developed writing models, children are made aware of authorial techniques and features in books during their reading lessons and reading for pleasure time to ensure that they draw on extended models of effective writing.

The writing progression document ensures that we implement a progressive approach to the teaching of writing in addition to supporting teachers to make accurate judgements about children’s attainment and progress.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PROGRESSION DOCUMENT

SPAG

Whilst elements of spelling, punctuation and grammar are modelled and discussed throughout writing lessons, children in KS2 also access discrete SPAG lessons. Long-term overviews map out the key learning of punctuation and grammar to ensure coverage and progression throughout KS2.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW YEAR 3/4 SPAG OVERVIEW

CLICK HERE TO VIEW YEAR 5/6 SPAG OVERVIEW

We have mapped the composite and component learning for punctuation and grammar. Click on the buttons to view the composite and component parts of our punctuation and grammar curriculum. 

Weekly quizzes are used as retrieval practice to ensure that children have an excellent grasp of key grammar and punctuation aspects. This weekly quiz also strengthens children’s retention of key concepts and ensures that learning is transferred into the long-term memory. These take place across KS2.

Click on the button below to see an example of our weekly SPAG quiz.

SPAG Flashback

In addition to weekly quizzes, we use daily flashbacks in KS2 punctuation and grammar lessons to ensure that children have repeated practice of key knowledge and concepts. These daily flashbacks support children in transferring this knowledge to the long-term memory and ensures that they know and remember more.