Writing
Writing
Our topics are designed thoughtfully around the new curriculum and are chosen carefully to ensure that writers from all backgrounds are well catered for. We have nurtured the notion that SPaG and writing work simultaneously and in the new climate of accuracy and precision, our children are trained to become effective proof-readers, capable of editing their work accordingly. In writing, we use the whole-school bespoke ‘Pathways to Write’ scheme which links to diverse, high-quality texts, ensuring engaging and purposeful English lessons. ‘Pathways to Write’ ensures a clear progression and tracking of skills, assessment materials, a progressive guide to genres an links to key curriculum themes. There are new age-related skills for pupils to work on and master through a variety of activities and writing opportunities. By limiting the number of skills the units contain, pupils can really master their writing techniques, providing excellent, focused assessment opportunities for our teachers. We also plan thoughtfully for writing across the curriculum and encourage our pupils to learn the craft of writing required to communicate effectively in specific subjects. For example, in Science there is a real emphasis on use of language that is objective, precise and factual. In History, we encourage children to carefully evaluate and interpret their sources; to link causes and effects and assign significance to ideas and events. In any writing process, we nurture the concept of writing like a reader and reading like a writer and value the importance of planning, drafting and editing.
Handwriting
At Travis, we are fully aware that teaching handwriting effectively impacts the wider curriculum and the development of the whole child, offering, among others the following benefits:
- When children can write autonomously they can concentrate on what to write rather than how to write so their ideas and writing content will improve
- A significant impact on children's self-esteem, when they see beautiful writing which they have created with their own hand
- The huge effect of good handwriting on children's motivation and enjoyment for writing
- Develops a strong sense of pride which cannot be measured by attainment level or standardised testing
- Where children have good handwriting, and are proud of how their work looks, they become far more meticulous about spelling, punctuation, grammar and their use of language.
- When children take care to produce beautiful work they are more likely to take care in other areas of their life – e.g care for resources, care for each other.
As a school, we use the achieving excellence in handwriting resources from Martin Harvey to teach handwriting.