Writing Policy 2015 Leeann Scott

Sandwood Primary School

Writing Policy

SANDWOOD PRIMARyWriting Policy

AimsIn Sandwood Primary we aim to:

have a positive writing ethos throughout the school, to ensure that all learners have the opportunity to develop their confidence and enjoyment of writing.

provide all learners with multisensory learning experiences and relevant, meaningful contexts for writing.

teach writing through a structured programme to ensure coverage, progression, continuity and consistency.

ensure all aspects of grammatical awareness, punctuation and the writer’s craft are taught in a progressive and consistent manner.

PlanningWriting planners for each block can be found in ‘Our Establishment – Forward PLaning (current year) – Literacy & English’. Each planner already contains the learning outcomes, genres to be taught, suggested lessons and success criteria for that block. Class teachers should highlight which lessons they will be using or alternatively complete the ‘Alternative Lessons/Context’ box.

See Appendix A

Progression of grammar/writing skillsThe school follows a grammar /writers craft progression to ensure that all key grammatical features are taught and developed throughout the 7 years in primary school. These link with the genre writing planners.

See Appendix B

Contexts for the Teaching and Learning of WritingTo support children in the acquisition of writing skills we should aim to provide meaningful and effective contexts for them to develop their skills. These might include the following:

*Modelled and shared writing*Guided writing*Independent or paired writing*Sharing and reflecting on their writing*Cross-curricular writing tasks e.g. in project work or science

AssessmentAssessment is an integral part of the teaching and learning process and a balance between formative and summative assessment should be used. Assessment should be completed at the end of each block to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching and learning of the genre and to plan next steps.

Assessment spread sheets for each year group can be located in the shared area. Staff are required to complete these grids on an ongoing basis. These grids provide information about individual pupil progress, progress within genres and highlight areas to be targeted for development.

Writing Policy 2015 Leeann Scott

When assessing against a benchmark for spelling, staff are to use the spelling/phonics reference grid to identify which common words / spelling patterns are applicable to each writing skills pathway.

The sharing of learning intentions and assessing against success criteria should always be used to provide pupils with clear feedback and to inform their next steps. Furthermore, a range of formative assessment strategies such as 2 stars and a wish, self/peer assessment & traffic lights should be incorporated into lessons to allow pupils the opportunity to reflect on their learning.

Technical targets should be taught throughout the year.

Monitoring and TrackingPupils will complete an assessment piece 4 times per year, which will be used for tracking purposes.

First piece - RECOUNT - will be completed following the teaching of recount writing in block one.

Second piece –POETRY - will be completed following the teaching of poetry in block two.

Third piece - PROCEDURAL - will be completed in block 3 Fourth Piece – SHORT STORY will be completed in block 4. Technical Targets – a final assessment of Technical Targets is to be completed at

the end of block 4 to give an accurate placing for starting the following year.

Assessment pieces should be marked using the genre specific marking criteria, which should then be attached to each piece of writing. Final technical targets assessment to be included with piece of writing. Writing to be completed in writing jotter with marking criteria.

Moderation of WritingTo ensure that our writing assessments are reliable and consistent across the school, colleagues will ‘cross mark’and discuss assessment of marking of writing throughout the year.

Opportunities will be provided for staff members to moderate levels of writing to ensure consistency of assessment and to identify next steps.

Spelling and HandwritingSpelling and Handwriting are an integral part of the writing process and further information can be found in the Spelling or Handwriting policy.

Additional ResourcesAll planning and assessment resources mentioned can be found in ‘Our Establishment – Forward PLaning (current year) – Literacy & English’ Please also file any additional resources, good lessons or useful information that you have used, in the Blue Literacy Folders for your stage. This will allow a bank of resources and lessons to be built up for each stage.

Writing Policy 2015 Leeann Scott

Appendix ALearning Outcome Genre Suggested Lessons Alternative

Lessons/ContextsSuccess Criteria

By considering the type of text I am creating, I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in a logical sequence and use words which will be interesting and/or useful for others. LIT 1-26a

I can describe and share my experiences and how they made me feel.ENG 1-30a

Recount Recount of weekend 1. I can write about something that happened to me.

2. I can write in the first person

3. I can write in the past tense

4. I can list events in chronological order using time connectives- Firstly, Next, Later etc.

I can convey information, describe events or processes, share my opinions or persuade my reader in different ways.LIT 1-28a & LIT 1-29a

I can present my writing in a way that will make it legible and attractive for my reader, combining words, images and other features. LIT 1-24a

Persuasive1.

2.

3.

SANDWOOD PRIMARY SCHOOLClass ______ Session _____ Teacher ____________________Writing Planner

Block 1 – Non-Fiction

Writing Policy 2015 Leeann Scott

Appendix B Grammar and Writing Skills OverviewPrimary 1 Primary 2 Primary 3 Primary 4 Primary 5 Primary 6 Primary 7

Punctuation Full Stop Exclamation MarkQuestion MarkFull Stop

Comma (list)Exclamation MarkQuestion MarkFull Stop

Comma (pause)Speech MarksExclamation MarkQuestion MarkCommaFull Stop

Apostrophe(for contractions and possession)Speech MarksExclamation MarkQuestion MarkCommaFull Stop

ColonSemi ColonParenthesisApostropheSpeech MarksExclamation MarkQuestion MarkCommaFull Stop

HyphenDashEllipsesParenthesisColonSemi ColonHyphenApostropheSpeech MarksExclamation MarkQuestion MarkCommaFull Stop

GrammaticalConcepts

Capital letters (Names)The alphabet(small and capital letters)Connectives(and)

Capital letters(Names, Days, Months and Places)The alphabet(small and capital letters)Connectives(and, but & because)

Capital letters(Titles, Names of shops,Titles of books, Plays etc.)Nouns (Common and Proper)Verbs (Doing words)Adjectives(Describing words)Pluralisation( Adding s)Alphabetical Order(First letter ordering)Compound WordsConnectives(and, but, because, so, then & when)

Nouns(Concrete)PronounsVerbsAdjectivesDirect SpeechPrepositionsPluralisation( Adding es)Connectives(and, but, because, so then, when, after, also & while )

Nouns (Collective)Verbs(imperative)(regular past tense)Adjectives(comparative and superlative er & est)ParagraphsHomophones(to, too and two)(there, their and they’re)(where, were and we’re)Connectives(however, although, until & unless)

Nouns (Abstract)Verbs-Past Tense(Irregular )Pluralisation(nouns ending in y, f and fe)Adjectives (Comparative and superlative most & least)PrefixesSuffixesConnectives(despite, in addition to, & therefore)Indirect Speech

Nouns/Verbs AgreementVerbs(Auxiliary Verbs)(Past tense with ‘had’)(Active and passive)Adverbs(as openers)Adjectives(formed from nouns)SynonymsAntonymsHomophonesConnectives

Writer’sCraft

Rhyme Rhyme SimileRhyme

AlliterationSimileRhyme

OnomatopoeiaAlliterationSimileRhyme

MetaphorAlliterationOnomatopoeiaSimileRhyme

PersonificationMetaphorAlliterationOnomatopoeiaSimileRhyme

Direct Teaching ConsolidationEach stage will be provided with a more comprehensive breakdown of punctuation, grammatical concepts and writer’s craft techniques to be covered,

Writing Policy 2015 Leeann Scott

Appendix B

Primary 7Progression of Writing Skills

(grammatical awareness, sentence construction, punctuation and the writer’s craft)Nouns * To ensure consistency of noun/verb agreement (e.g the boy plays & the boys

play) *To consolidate understanding of all 5 types of nouns(common, proper, concrete, abstract and collective)

Verbs *To introduce the term active and passive verbs

* To identify the difference between an active and passive sentence

*To change sentences from active to passive and vice versa

*To introduce the term auxiliary verb (helping verb)

* To identify auxiliary verbs (e.g. am, is, are, have, has & had etc.)

* To understand that the past participle always requires an auxiliary verb(e.g. All the ponds were frozen)

* To introduce verbs in the past tense with ‘had’

(e.g. I have seen & She has done)

*To use verb tenses with increasing accuracy when speaking and in writingAdjectives *To form adjectives from nouns by adding the letter y

(e.g. cloud – cloudy )*To form adjectives from nouns that end in e by dropping the e before adding the y (e.g. juice– juicy)*To form adjectives from nouns by doubling the last letter before adding the y (e.g. sun - sunny)

Homophones *To introduce the term ‘homophone’*To revise examples of common homophones (two/to/too)*To identify other examples of homophones*To select the correct homophone

Antonyms *To introduce and understand the term antonym*To understand that some words can have many antonyms (e.g. bored - excited, thrilled & energized) and some words have only one antonym (e.g black - white)

Synonyms *To introduce and understand the term synonym* To ‘up level’ writing by replacing words with appropriate synonyms*To confidently use a thesaurus to find and select appropriate synonyms

Connectives *To use a variety of connectives to show time, sequence, cause, opposition & consequence

Punctuation *To introduce the use of the hyphen to join two words (compound words)*To introduce the use of the hyphen to separate a prefix from its root word(e.g re-cover)*To introduce the use of the dash to show gaps or hesitation*To identify examples of the dash in reading* To use the dash in writing*To introduce ellipses as a way of showing a break in a sentence, scraps of a conversation, showing that words have been missed out and its use as a cliff-hanger*To identify examples of ellipses in reading* To use ellipses in writing

Writer’s Craft – Personification

* To understand the term ‘personification’*To identify examples of personification in reading

* To use personification in writingPlease note any other grammatical structures, punctuation or writer’s techniques covered this session.

Writing Policy 2015 Leeann Scott