Intent

At Littlebourne CE Primary School we believe that writing is an essential life skill, both within and beyond education, which is why it is embedded across all subjects taught in our school.

Our aim is to equip children with transferable writing skills that develop year after year, supporting them through each stage of their education and preparing them confidently for secondary school.

We believe writing should always be purposeful. Teaching children to write for a range of audiences and purposes is an exciting part of our curriculum. At school, we use engaging hooks and imaginative stimuli to inspire children and give real meaning to their writing. By offering varied and authentic reasons to write, we not only encourage higher-quality outcomes but also enable learners to apply their skills across different contexts.

Embedding writing across all subject areas further strengthens children’s ability to analyse, plan and innovate, all of which are skills that will be essential for their transition to secondary education.

We value the importance of fostering a culture in which children take pride in their writing. We aim for every child to write clearly, accurately, and with adaptability in both language and style, depending on the context.

Ultimately, our goal is for all learners to reach their full potential. We are committed to providing the right balance of scaffolding and challenge, supporting each child while nurturing a genuine love for writing.

Implementation

Our aims are embedded throughout our English lessons and across the wider curriculum. We deliver a well structured and carefully sequenced English curriculum that offers purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. Our approach aligns closely with the National Curriculum for English and makes meaningful cross curricular links wherever appropriate. To inspire our learners, we draw on a wide range of high quality texts and resources, alongside enrichment experiences such as visits, book weeks, theatre trips and whole school writing weeks. These opportunities ensure that children encounter positive role models from both the local community and beyond.

Children take part in daily English lessons and are routinely exposed to age appropriate expectations within a variety of text types. Because reading and writing are closely connected, we ensure children read every day to deepen their understanding of different genres and broaden their vocabulary.

Teachers provide high quality modelling in every writing lesson, demonstrating how to use key vocabulary, structure ideas into coherent paragraphs and apply the grammatical skills and punctuation appropriate for each year group. Children are supported to deconstruct model texts, identify key features of specific genres and understand how these features shape meaning. Teachers then model the application of these skills before children incorporate them into their own writing. We believe that the ability to recognise and apply genre specific features is a vital skill that strengthens both reading comprehension and writing outcomes.

In EYFS and Year 1, a high standard of non cursive handwriting is modelled, with children introduced to cursive formation in Year 2. Handwriting is taught and practised regularly, with a consistent expectation that neat, joined writing is evident across all subjects.

At Littlebourne CE Primary School, we ensure pupils understand their strengths and next steps so that they take ownership of their progress. This is supported through effective marking, one to one verbal feedback during lessons and additional targeted inputs.

Where children are not yet working at age related expectations, including those on the SEND register, assessment may take place against the year group below. Daily interventions or additional support will be provided to accelerate progress where needed. The type of intervention is determined by the class teacher and the SENDCO. In-class support may include small group work with an adult, carefully planned scaffolds, word banks, sentence starters and other tailored resources designed to help children access and succeed in writing tasks.

Impact

• Pupils will enjoy writing and feel confident working across a wide range of genres.
• All pupils will be supported to succeed in English lessons through carefully planned scaffolding that meets their individual needs.
• Pupils will develop a rich and varied vocabulary and use it effectively within their writing.
• Pupils will understand how to adapt their writing for different audiences, purposes and contexts.
• By the end of primary school, pupils will confidently and accurately apply the spelling rules and patterns they have been taught.
• Parents and carers will understand how to support spelling, grammar and writing at home and will engage regularly with homework.
• The percentage of pupils achieving Expected Standard or above in each year group will meet or exceed national averages.
• The percentage of pupils achieving Greater Depth in each year group will meet or exceed national averages.
• There will be no significant gaps in progress between different groups of pupils (e.g., disadvantaged and non‑disadvantaged pupils, boys and girls).