Writing
At Holy Family we believe that reading and being immersed in high quality literature is crucial to the writing process and the development of young writers.
A well-chosen text provides rich language models and structures from which children can learn how writing works and the effect it can have on a reader. Choosing texts that are rich in vocabulary enables children to comprehend beyond their own reading fluency level. Exposure to quality texts and enriching experiences enable children to discover a real sense of purpose for writing and enables children to write in a range of genre for a specific audience.
Writing Development
At Holy Family, children are taught to write through a carefully planned sequence of language features using modelled texts. Children focus on modelled examples to explore and develop new vocabulary and discuss the impact language choices have on the reader. This process enriches and extends children’s vocabulary, which enables them to become confident writers.
Children identify the features of the genre in which they are reading and writing. They begin to look at the grammar structures used by writers and discuss the purpose of certain grammar choices. This enables children to write a range of sentence types and make impactful choices in their writing.
As the teaching of writing progresses, children apply their skills from their word and sentence level work in the build-up lessons. The high-quality teaching in previous lessons enables them to feel more confident in composing a whole piece of writing. Children are taught how to write in the correct form and register for a specific purpose and audience. They are given opportunities to engage in shared writing experiences to plan, draft and edit their writing before publishing and sharing their work.
Core Texts
At Holy Family we follow the Mastery approach to reading and writing. Our Core Texts drive our learning in English and relate to the Topic being studied. We select Core Texts which will engage our children, enhance our foundation subjects and expose our children to rich language and form. The planned reading curriculum is supported by access to, and carefully designed exposure to, high quality literature (core texts) these books have been chosen to reflect a rich array of cultures, backgrounds and experiences.
Progression of Skills
Our progression of skills documents informs our planning. Each document lists the National Curriculum objectives that need to be taught each term. The objectives are mapped out for progression across the year. In writing lessons, these objectives are broken down into microscopic steps.