You can make anything by writing.
– C. S. Lewis
Vision for Saltburn children
At Saltburn, first and foremost, we believe every child is a writer and has the ability to write extraordinary things. The teaching of writing is paramount within our broad and balanced curriculum and we have the same expectations across all subjects with regards to writing. Our aim is to ensure that every child within our school leaves as a competent writer and with an understanding of the conventions of Standard English and when to use it effectively. This ability to write with confidence for a range of purposes and audiences ensures that children leave Saltburn fully prepared for their secondary education, ready to achieve their aspirations and thrive in their adult life. The writing curriculum at Saltburn encourages children to immerse themselves in different text types, understand the features and impact of these, and realise the importance of them beyond education. A secure knowledge of spelling and grammar and an understanding of how to edit writing is taught throughout the school in a systematic and progressive way. The content of writing lessons is planned to build on children’s previous knowledge as well as introduce new learning in a fun and memorable way. Children at Saltburn develop a deep understanding of different text types and how to construct them effectively with clear purpose.
Aims
Through robust teaching practices, we aim to develop core areas for our children as they engage with writing with enthusiasm and passion:
- As a school, we want to enrich the experiences the children are exposed to and provide real-life opportunities to provide purpose to write through our experience days and wider curriculum events
- We will provide a well-sequenced writing curriculum that is ambitious and engaging
- We want our children to write for both pleasure and informational purposes
- To experience a rich and varied literary heritage through a wide range of stimuli
- To be exposed and to equip them with comprehensive, rich and diverse vocabulary so they can grapple with an array of genres
- We want our children to be able to express themselves through their writing and understand that it is a vehicle for communication, connection and creativity in the world
- We want all of our children to develop handwriting, which is legible and fluid, inline with our school handwriting scheme
- We want to give them the knowledge and the strategies to become confident and accurate spellers.
- For grammatical knowledge to be secure so they are able to write with accuracy and cohesion
- We want our children to write clearly, accurately and coherently in a range of genres, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences.
- High importance is placed on the effective process of writing and children are taught to plan, edit and evaluate the pieces they create
Place Value of Punctuation and Grammar Overviews
At the start of each academic year, the children at Saltburn work through ‘The Place Value of Punctuation’ prior to embarking on our genre writing journey. This is an approach that is devised by Grammarsaurus, where children are taught the fundamentals to sentence construction through grammatical terms and punctuation knowledge. An approach which provides children with the building blocks and ability to identify, edit, correct and modify sentences before applying this knowledge to extended writing.
Once the PVPG units are complete, and children have been assessed as secure, we then, as a school, complete a non-chronological report, followed by a recount. This allows children to apply their knowledge gained through the PVPG units and produces genres which are predominantly statement based.
Writing Examples
Progression from EYFS
Spelling
Words cast spells. That’s why it’s called spelling. Words are energy; use them wisely
– Anon
Regular spelling practise helps children build their vocabulary and feel more confident with their writing, allowing them to write more freely and imaginatively. With your help and encouragement, your child can understand the importance of practising and learning their spellings. You can help your child by practising the weekly spellings assigned by their class teacher and accessing the Spelling Shed programme. Children from Y1-6 are given weekly spellings. In addition to weekly set spellings, every child from Y1-6 has a personal log on to access Spelling Shed activities. The programme is a fun and engaging way to revise previously learned spelling patterns, boosting confidence in everyday writing.
Every child from Y1-6 has an individual log in for Spelling Shed. The log in details will be sent home with your child. Class teachers will set a list of words for the children to learn which will be the spellings they are focusing on that week in class. These will appear on the child’s home screen, if set. If these specific words are not set, a child is still able to practise and play relevant spelling words for their year group.
It would be wonderful if you could support your child with this at home. You can access the website at https://www.spellingshed.com/en-gb.
VISION ACADEMY TRUST SPELLING BEE
Each year, one of our primary schools from the trust hold a much-anticipated event – The Spelling Bee! Each school sends 12 wonderful representatives to compete across the trust. We are extremely proud of our children – their behaviour and conduct was exemplary not to mention their exceptional spelling ability!
Our Writing Assessment
