Writing- composition

Intent, implementation and impact

Intent
Being able to write is one of the many things that most of us take for granted. Even if we’re not keen writers, we may still write out a shopping list or jot down the
odd note. For children, writing is a skill that they have to learn and develop gradually. We are in an age of technology which is moving quickly, so why is it still so
important for our children to learn to write? Writing is more than what you see as a finished product on a piece of paper or screen of a device. Writing is a process
which helps to develop cognitive and motor skills starting from memorising the phonemes (letter sounds) and writing them as graphemes (written sounds). It
boosts memory as it encourages you to take notes and improve on them which helps children to memorise details compared to the same process on a computer.
When we write with a pen, different parts of our brain get activated and many neurons are released, which, in turn, makes the brain sharp and active and increases
memory. Writing improves language and reading skills as it aids memory building enabling children to retrieve letters and words from their memory better, therefore,
they learn how to spell more accurately. The act of writing stimulates areas of the brain and is the way we learn what we’re thinking. When children write
compositions (larger pieces of writing) they learn to express themselves better and come up with more ideas. According to studies, children who write more
compared to keyboarding also tend to write faster and for longer periods. Writing boosts confidence, children can see improvement over time. As children
practise writing by hand more, they will develop their own style of writing. With time, their handwriting will also improve and will mirror their personality. You can find
out a lot about a person from what they write and how they write it.

The relationship between reading and writing is vital if our children are to understand the different purposes of writing and further develop their language
and vocabulary. At St. John’s we have chosen high quality texts for each year group which are in class reading areas. Teachers read these texts over and over
again as well as using them in guided reading sessions to unpick further. This is alongside children reading independently. The books are written by a range of
authors to engage readers and inspire writers, these are our GOLDEN BOOKS. They take our children to different places around the world, help then to meet new
characters and experiences things they have not before.

We have chosen further quality texts which we use as a stimulus for writing engaging the children and giving them ideas and experience to bring to their writing.
Our school backbones define a clear process to teaching different genres of writing. We give the children a purpose to their writing and identify an audience
for them to write to, using a quality text as a stimulus. We focus on a genre (e.g. letter, diary, newspaper article, narrative) and give the children opportunities to
look at examples, unpick the features as well develop their understanding through speaking and listening activities. Children are supported through the modelling,
planning and writing together before they use their learnt skills to plan and write their own piece independently. Children are always given the opportunity to
talk about their work and edit it to improve it. Editing is a skill which is taught and developed throughout school. We teach grammar and handwriting discreetly
as well as through our daily writing sessions to ensure our children see the importance of the aspects within their writing.

We want our children to be able to write for a range of purposes, at a standard which allows them to communicate their ideas and understanding to a
range of audiences. This knowledge and skill level will enable them to build on their abilities at secondary school and compete for collage places and
jobs opening up more opportunities for their futures. We want them to develop a writer’s voice and the ability to show their personality and creativity
through their writing, developing a writing style of their own.
 Implementation
We ensure our children progressively develop the knowledge and skills needed to meet and exceed the programmes of study in the National Curriculum for
English. As highlighted above, reading and writing are vitally important for both short term and long term success. Both are also vital to all other areas of the
curriculum too. Listening to and discussing information books and other non-fiction establishes the foundations for their learning in other subjects. Writing is one
of the mediums children use to share what they have learnt and what they know, statutory assessment relies on this. The National Curriculum divides writing into
two broad areas: transcription and comprehension. Transcription covers the technical aspects of writing: handwriting, spelling and grammar & punctuation. (see
separate information about transcription at St. John’s) Composition is about sharing their ideas and thinking about the purpose for their writing. Starting to write
or compose happens in Early Years in our reception class using the Read Write Inc. programme. Children begin their journey towards writing by making
marks/drawing and giving meaning to them. Children will begin to understand the difference between drawing and writing as adult point out pictures and text
in the books they read to them. Getting them to recognise their own name and then through the phonics programme learn phonemes (sounds) and graphemes
(written sounds) spending time blending them to read and segmenting them to write.

In KS1, our First Milestone, children continue to develop their transcription skills alongside their ability to compose. Through reading and discussions around the
content of quality texts children’s vocabulary is further developed which is fed into their writing. By listening frequently to stories, poems and non-fiction that they
cannot yet read for themselves, pupils begin to understand how written language can be structured in order, for example, to build surprise in narratives or to
present facts in non-fiction. Our children also start to learn how language sounds and increase their vocabulary. There awareness of grammatical structures
increases and through teacher modelling they begin to use such grammar in their own writing. They say out loud what they are going to write about, and then
compose sentences aloud. They move on to putting sentences together into short narratives and learn to read back what they have written with peers and
teachers. They write for a range of purposes, including fictional stories, non-fiction texts, and poetry. They learn to create a simple plan and use it to support them
when writing. Starting to make simple additions, revisions, and corrections to their own writing to improve it.

In Milestone Two our year 3 and 4 children continue to have opportunities to write for a range of real purposes and audiences across the curriculum. These
purposes and audiences should underpin the decisions about the form the writing should take, such as a narrative, an explanation or a description. Through
modelling, the skills and processes that are essential for writing are taught including thinking aloud to explore and collect ideas, drafting, and re-reading to check
their meaning is clear. Children should now be able to write down their ideas with some accuracy and with good sentence punctuation. They should learn to
use varied grammar, vocabulary and narrative structures from which they can draw to express their ideas. Pupils should be beginning to understand how writing
can be different from speech. Children should experience talking about similar pieces of writing, and using these to help them plan their own. They should be
exposed to rich vocabulary and a range of sentence structures. Children should use their experiences and imaginations to create settings, characters, and plots
for stories. They should use simple organisational devices when writing non-fiction texts. Learning how to proof-read for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors
will ensure they improve their writing to a higher standard.

Our year 5 and 6 children develop the skills and processes essential for writing throughout Milestone 3. They are shown how to think aloud to generate ideas,
take notes and draft their ideas as well as re-read their work to check that the meaning is clear. Children should be able to write down their ideas quickly in note
form and then focus on their presentation when writing their own text, ensuring their grammar and punctuation is accurate. They focus on identifying the
audience and purpose of their writing. They are encouraged to modify their use of grammar and vocabulary depending on what they are writing. Children in
this milestone should spell of most words taught so far accurately and spell words that they have not yet been taught by using what they have learnt about how
spelling works in English. Using a consistent tense throughout their piece of writing is important as well a checking through their own and their peers’ writing and
making constructive improvements.
 Impact
The teaching and learning of early phonics, reading and writing is vital in ensuring our children have skills which help them to learn to read and write in reception
and year 1 which can be built on in KS1 and KS2 to enable our children to meet or exceed the age related expectations in writing. This is only achievable if we
teacher writing composition alongside writing transcription.

As a school we all understand the role reading plays in developing writers and the value of being immersed in high quality texts. We want to ensure our children
have experience of a breadth of texts from a range of authors. We want our children to see writing as a means of expression and a communication tool. The
teaching of writing is effective when children see the use in it; when there is real, authentic purpose; when there is an audience that authenticates their voice,
whether themselves or another reader. Through purposeful opportunities and reasons to write, children are able to develop authentic personal voice, style,
stamina and range as a writer. They enjoy writing expressively, imaginatively and informatively for purpose – they will become authors.
We want our children to identify as writers and to develop their own authentic voice and enable this to happen by giving children time and space to develop
their own ideas in their writing. We have a consistent and progressive approach towards the teaching of phonics, grammar and spelling which becomes
embedded allowing our children to focus on the composition of writing.

Having classroom and communal environments around school which promote reading and model writing highlights the importance of these two subject to our
children and further supports their knowledge and understanding too. Having consistent practice throughout school through the use of our ‘writing backbones-
process of writing’ when teaching gives our children a structure to writing of which they become familiar with. Ensuring we have clear expectations of the features
which should be taught for each genre in each year group means that when children move into the next phase of learning they can build on prior learning.

We want our children to become confident writers, communicating to others at a high standard which means they have the skills and abilities to enable them
to achieve now and in their future.

Please see the additional 3 I’s for Grammar, Punctuation and Grammar, Spelling and Handwriting which are integral to supporting the development of writing
transcription.