Intent
At Trinity Road, we aim to develop confident and proficient writers who are able to express their thoughts, creativity, and opinions clearly and effectively. Our curriculum is designed to inspire a love for writing while equipping students with the fundamental skills of spelling, punctuation, grammar, and vocabulary. We believe that writing is not just a skill, but a mode of communication that enables our pupils to engage with the world around them.
Our objectives include:
- Fostering Creativity: Encouraging imaginative thinking and original expression through various genres of writing, including narrative, non-fiction, poetry, and persuasive texts.
- Building Technical Proficiency: Providing explicit teaching in grammar, spelling and punctuation to ensure that children have the tools they need to write accurately and fluently.
- Promoting Purposeful Writing: Instilling the understanding that writing serves various purposes, whether it is to inform, entertain, persuade, or express.
- Encouraging Collaboration and Feedback: Creating opportunities for pupil conferencing and constructive feedback from adults and peers, to cultivate a supportive and collaborative writing community.
Implementation
Our writing curriculum includes a wide variety of texts and genres, aligned with the National Curriculum. This ensures that children encounter diverse perspectives and experiences, which informs and enhances their writing. Teachers plan a three-week sequence that ensures children are explicitly taught specific writing skills, have opportunities to practise these skills in short bursts of writing and then apply them as part of an extended piece linked to the identified genre and text type being studied.
We ensure that grammar, punctuation and spelling are taught in context, linking them to the genre being explored. Our curriculum is enhanced with high-quality literature that serves as a stimulus for writing. Children engage in pupil conferencing and peer feedback to reflect on their writing and identify next steps. Writing is also integrated across our wider curriculum, allowing children to practise and apply their writing skills in various contexts.
Impact
In Writing, we use an assessment framework developed by our writing lead that clearly defines each year group’s expectations as outlined in the National Curriculum. Teachers use these to inform planning and next steps for learners, ensuring children can independently apply each skill with confidence.
A large proportion of pupils meet or exceed age-related expectations in writing, with many achieving greater depth within their year group.