Writing at CHS

At Coleshill Heath School, children are provided with a wealth of reading, writing, speaking and listening opportunities which develop, secure and embed key English skills for lifelong learning.  These skills not only underpin children’s understanding across the curriculum, they are essential ingredients for instilling confidence and resilience, enabling them to fully access all areas of the curriculum - unlocking their unique potential.

Writing at CHS - Talk4Writing

Philosophy and pedagogy

Our approach to writing is based on Talk4Writing, which is an approach that supports children to explore, through talk, the thinking and creative processes involved in being a writer. It is embedded at every phase of the teaching sequence, which is structured to include teacher talk, supported pupil talk and independent pupil talk. We believe that Talk4Writing is an approach that goes beyond the development of children’s general speaking and listening skills – it allows children to explore the processes involved in being a writer and extends oral rehearsal so that it becomes a draft for their written pieces. The approach supports the children to move from talk into writing by initially learning stories off-by-heart.

Aims

By the end of Key Stage Two, we aim for a child to be able to:

• Write with confidence, fluency and understanding, orchestrating a range of independent strategies to self-monitor and correct.
• Have an interest in words and their meanings, developing a growing vocabulary in spoken and written forms.
• Understand a range of text types and genres and to be able to write in a variety of styles and forms appropriate to the situation.
• Develop the powers of imagination, inventiveness and critical awareness.

Big Write

All children in Years 1 to 6 have the opportunity to apply their writing skills in an independent piece of writing once a fortnight.  These are completed in the children’s ‘Big Write’ books. Big Writing is an opportunity for children to write creatively.

EYFS

In the Early Years, children are encouraged to attempt their own emergent writing and their efforts are valued and praised. As their phonic knowledge increases, this will be reflected in their writing. At the same time, their knowledge of key words is supported through reading and writing activities, including shared reading and writing. A wide variety of opportunities are provided for children to engage in writing activities.

Cross-curricular writing opportunities

Teachers will seek to take advantage of opportunities to make valid cross-curricular links so that writing genres taught are meaningful, e.g. non-chronological reports in T4W lessons when studying Romans in history. Teachers will also plan for pupils to practise and apply the skills, knowledge and understanding acquired through T4W lessons to other areas of the curriculum.

Writing