What is writing like at Elworth Hall?

Foundation Class

Children at Elworth Hall start their writing journey, using the skills of printing and letter knowledge from their early writing to learn to form lower-case and capital letters correctly. They develop their skills of segmenting and blending through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds phonics scheme. This scheme provides the foundations for children to access the entire curriculum. From here, the children can start to write with independence, using short sentences with familiar words and known sound-letter correspondences. They learn to use the capital letter and full stop to demarcate these ideas. As they progress, the children learn to re-read what they have written to check that it makes sense. 

Year 1

In Year 1, children learn to tell stories orally and write short sentences. They also check back what they have written with their peers and teachers. The process includes the children rehearsing their sentences out loud and then composing their sentences to write. They develop their work by putting sentences together into short narratives. 

Year 2

As they move into Year 2, children will build on the skills learned to create a wider range of writing for a range of purposes. These include  fictional stories, non-fiction texts, and poetry. They learn to plan their work by writing or orally laying out a simple plan and then editing work they have already written. Children are encouraged to make simple additions, revisions, and corrections to their own reading.

Year 3

In Year 3, the planning process is developed and children plan in detail, so that they include imaginative ideas where they talk about and connect knowledge about similar pieces of writing, and using these to help them plan their own, writing with a particular purpose in mind. They learn how to create settings, develop characters, and plots for stories.

At Elworth Hall, we are developing a rich vocabulary with the children and teaching them a range of sentence structures to enhance their writing. Children in Year 3 start to use simple organisational devices such as headings and sub-headings.

Year 4

In Year 4, the children refine the skills they acquired in Year 3. They continue to plan in detail and use imaginative ideas from the quality texts that inspire their writing. This enables them to talk about similar pieces of writing, and use ideas from these to help them plan their own. Children will continue to orally rehearse sentences and expand their writing using skills and techniques taught in the writing process. 

Year 5

By Year 5, the children will be writing with increased confidence and an ability to write imaginatively and cohesively, choosing the right structure and tone for any given piece of writing. They are able to change their use of grammar and choose precise vocabulary, depending on what they are writing.

Year 6

In Year 6, the emphasis is on polishing and refining pieces of writing so that children build upon their learning. They learn to write cohesively and choose the right structure and tone for any given piece of writing​. In narrative pieces they are aware of describing settings, characters and atmosphere and can integrate dialogue to convey character and advance the action. Children start to modify their use of grammar and vocabulary depending on what they are writing and maintain a consistent tense throughout.