Development of writing skills
Writing Curriculum Vision:
At Grasmere Academy we recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children can take pride in their writing, are able to write clearly, passionately, accurately and also be able to adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. Using a book-based approach to literacy teaching, our pupils are immersed in a range of text types in a variety of ways to help deepen their understanding of purpose, audience, language, vocabulary and appreciation of literary heritage. Through the English Curriculum, we strive to teach the children how important these learnt skills are in the real world. In order to do this, we add context to their learning which helps the children understand the value of English to them now, and in their future.
There are many elements to our literacy curriculum, that work together to create fluent writers in our school. These elements need to be carefully crafted and woven together in order to have the biggest impact on our children.
Literacy Curriculum Overview
Literacy Basic Skills
Handwriting is an imperative part of our daily teaching. At Grasmere Academy we are working on our children becoming neat and fluent at handwriting in order to support reducing the cognitive load when writing. This will then lead to raised standards of attainment in writing across the school. We have a consistent approach to teaching handwriting, which is based on research and sound pedagogical understanding of the process.
Every classroom has a literacy working wall which is dedicated to supporting daily writing and enabling independence. This is ever changing and is constantly being updated by both teachers and children. The purpose of this is to build on it throughout the current unit with things that are genuinely relevant, such as writer’s toolkits, key vocabulary and useful phrases. Allowing the children to be a part of this process encourages them to use the information on the wall effectively, independently and confidently.
The Impact of our Curriculum: We believe that through purposeful and carefully sequenced lessons, children will develop a growing awareness of the world around them whilst establishing positive learner qualities, which builds independent and resilient learners. Children will develop as accurate spellers who are confident to use adventurous vocabulary in their writing. Alongside this, the children will develop a legible handwriting style that empowers them to write with speed, confidence and pride, therefore allowing them to articulate clearly with confidence and increasing expressive language.