At Barons Court, children receive a stimulating and enriching experience in English, developing the skills necessary to master the English curriculum. Through high-quality teaching, well planned and structured lessons, we ensure that children are engaged and progressing with their writing ability in line with the National Curriculum expectations and are also developing a lifelong appreciation for literature and language. We believe that writing is a fundamental life skill and we inspire children to become creative and confident communicators, readers and writers, leading to improved opportunities.  Through our English curriculum, children at Barons Court experience a wide range of purposeful texts, tailored to them, which enriches and broadens their vocabulary and grammatical technique through writing. Through meaningful teaching and learning experiences and through writing for a purpose, children are encouraged to value their own work. "You can make anything through writing."  C.S. Lewis.

Through our writing curriculum:

• Teachers reinforce an expectation that all pupils are capable of achieving high standards in English. 

• The large majority of pupils progress through the curriculum content at the same pace. Differentiation is achieved through additional support and encouraging children’s individual flair and fluency. 

• Interventions focus on gaps in knowledge and developing a growth mind-set in order to ensure all children achieve.

• Teaching is underpinned by using high quality texts and high quality examples from the teacher which focus on skills to be taught. These texts are then analysed in depth with the children in order for them to learn and apply specific skills.

• Grammar and punctuation skills are practised and consolidated until all children have a firm understanding of how to apply them in to their own work.
• Teachers use precise questioning in class to develop the children’s thinking and explanations, helping children to make literary choices in their writing.
• We ensure that we have a clear progression of handwriting, spelling and sentence construction to ensure our English curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge and skills in writing. Being clear about the progression in handwriting, spelling and sentence construction from Nursery to Year 6 enables teachers to create personalised ways forward for children in writing which allows them to make progress regardless of their starting point.

At Barons Court we ensure that our writing curriculum supports children by:

• Valuing their writing at all stages of development thus encouraging them to see themselves as writers from an early age. 
• Providing a real purpose for writing and enabling pupils to become increasingly aware of their intended audience. 
• Providing a multi-sensory approach - ensuring a range of contexts and stimuli. 
• Using a range of spoken language skills, e.g. hot seating, re-enacting, use of the theatre for making and presenting. 
• Providing outstanding role models through shared writing, where the teacher shares their own writing processes and experiences. 
• Providing opportunities for collaborative writing. 
• Providing scaffolding and appropriate support where appropriate.
• Giving the children experience of a range of ways to plan, edit and revise their work so they can choose which is appropriate for their needs as they progress through the school.
• Using checklists and success criteria for pupils to self-assess and/or peer assess, when appropriate, so they can evaluate effectively and identify areas for development.
• Encouraging joined handwriting to support spelling and fluency.
• Supporting pupils with learning and motor difficulties through specific, targeted interventions and support from the relevant outside agencies.

As a school we embed the teaching of spelling, punctuation and grammar in our daily English lessons as well as teaching these as discrete sessions. All children engage in daily phonics or spelling lessons and daily English lessons that enhance their learning.  We believe that spelling, punctuation and grammar are an essential part of learning and communication. 

Spelling

A new spelling rule (or sound in Phonics) is explicitly taught to the children each week through the Read, Write, Inc Phonics and Spelling scheme. Children have daily spelling lessons which aim to enhance their ability to understand the rules within the English language. Although we follow the Read, Write, Inc scheme progressively, we take the introduction of new rules and sounds at the speed of the child and allow them time to process and practice the taught skills before building upon them. In spelling lessons, the focus of the programme is on the teaching of spelling, which embraces knowledge of spelling conventions, patterns and rules. However, within English lessons we expect children to use their spelling rules learnt in sessions but we also promote the learning of spellings, including statutory words, common exceptions and personalised spellings linked to vocabulary.

Each year group has a recommended list of words, some follow spelling rules and others needed to be learnt in isolation. Children in each year group will practice these spellings at school, alongside their spelling rules each week.
You could work with your child to learn to spell these words over the course of the school year. 

Punctuation and Grammar

English lessons within school give children the opportunity to work with and explore key texts. A crucial part of this learning process is allowing children the opportunity to explore how different elements of spelling, punctuation and grammar are used in the real world. Children are exposed to print in many lessons throughout their school day and we encourage children to identify where authors have used punctuation and grammar. The children enjoy reading different types of texts and as the children mature as readers and writers, they are able to consider why and how it helps them as a reader.   Editing is an important part of the writing process. Children’s writing is looked at, often alongside them, and children have time with a teacher, sometimes with a peer and sometimes independently to allow the child time to edit and improve their writing. This skill is taught as the children mature as writers and they become more skilled at this as they move through the school.

Handwriting

In the Early Years children are encouraged to make marks in many different ways, using different mediums. For early writers there is a large focus on pencil grip and although we model the tripod grip to children and encourage them to use it, we appreciate there are stages little hands move through as they learn to hold a pencil. Children in Year 1 – Year 6 take part in daily handwriting lessons each day. Teacher’s model the correct handwriting grip and the correct formation of all letters and joins. We closely monitor children’s handwriting and their pencil/pen grip throughout the school.  If children are struggling to secure fluent handwriting they will work in intervention groups which may include; fine and gross motor control activities, Gym Trail exercises to strength their body and extra handwriting practise using pens/pencil but also on a larger scale using sand or glitter to form the letters accurately.

Please see our handwriting policy below which outlines some of the teaching techniques we use and expectations we have when children are writing across the curriculum at Barons Court.