Intent, Implementation and Impact Statement

Intent:

At Havelock Schools we believe that knowledge, understanding and the successful application of the English language is a fundamental life skill; it develops children’s ability to communicate their experiences, desires and knowledge effectively and successfully. Throughout our schools, we aim to nurture and develop independent writers through purposeful, engaging and developmental lessons which link to our rich and stimulating creative curriculum work.

We know that writing underpins all curriculum areas and is an essential skill for children. When children enter our school, we encourage a love of writing and provide as many opportunities for children to write as possible. We ensure that our English units allow for children to experience and then develop their writing in a wide range of genres. The development of writing is at the heart of our curriculum and we strive to give children ambitious and varied writing opportunities to enhance their writing skills as they move through our school. We expect high standards of writing in all subjects.

We refer to the Talk for Writing Toolkit Progression documents to ensure that children revisit and build upon skills previously taught. Our aim is to enable our children to be confident, ambitious and creative writers by the time that they leave our school.

Implementation:

We are a Talk for Writing School. During our Talk for Writing lessons, we support our children to express themselves creatively and imaginatively, as they become enthusiastic and critical readers of stories, poetry and drama; as well as non-fiction and media texts. Our children also gain an understanding of how language works by looking at its patterns, structures and origins and use their knowledge, skills and understanding across a range of different situations. The daily talk for writing lessons are linked to the current national curriculum objectives. The units of work begin with a cold write which is an independent piece of writing to assess previous understanding and knowledge. The children then repeat this task at the end of the unit as a hot write. This showcases the progress and learning that have taken place across the unit. Havelock also follow the Spelling Shed spelling programme to ensure that our children become competent and confident spellers building on prior knowledge of spelling rules. We also teach printed and then joined handwriting using the LetterJoin scheme.

Pedagogy:

• In lessons, the content delivered is coherently sequenced and chunked into three core stages to ensure that learning is progressive. Within each unit there are a set of tightly linked reference points (grammatical skills to revisit and new skills being taught in a new context), secure in long-term memory, which will build and secure over time.
• Talk for Writing is an inclusive approach to the teaching of writing. The model texts shared are aspirational and challenging. Effective scaffolds and extensions (based on the needs of individual learners) are essential in lessons to ensure that all learners are able to access the content of lessons.
• Diagnostic tasks (the cold writes) are completed in advance of the start of the unit. This is where children will complete a piece of writing independently before the next new unit. These identified areas should then inform planning for the unit ahead.
• Vocabulary is systematically built across the curriculum. Teachers use whole class chorusing, stem sentences and repetition of key words and sentences to ensure pupils develop a clear understanding. Use of fast paced questioning ensures that all pupils are secure in the vocabulary that they need
• Systemic retrieval practice ensures that all pupils retain new learning
• Pupils work in mixed attainment classes and in mixed attainment learning partners and pupil work is not differentiated by task.
• Teaching is underpinned by methodical, coherent, curriculum design and supported by carefully crafted lessons to develop and secure children’s understanding of grammatical and features of text types.

Feedback:

Where possible, feedback is completed within the lesson, unless children have completed an independent writing piece when a more in-depth analysis will be completed.  All feedback is given in line with the Pathfinder marking and feedback policy. Children should be clear on what they can do well and what they need to improve within their writing.

Assessment:

We use a multi-faceted approach to assessment within writing

• Cold writes begin every unit and these are used to ascertain any missing skills that need to be taught
• Retrieval practice takes place at the beginning of every lesson
• Assessment for learning is used within each lesson through skilful use of questioning and live feedback
• Amber and hot writes during each unit provide opportunities for continuous assessment over the year

Staff writing moderation is carried out three times a year at the same time as the data drop which ensures staff are assessing the children correctly and shares good practice

Leadership of Writing

Leaders monitor the provision of writing through learning walks in English, book looks and pupil voice. They regularly monitor and evaluate the impact of this provision through the analysis of (i) end of year cohort data and (ii) individual pupil progress throughout the year (on going assessments).

We develop strong subject knowledge amongst all staff which is achieved through comprehensive middle leadership development and a focus on developing all teachers’ subject knowledge.

 All staff benefit from implementing the high-quality planning resources provided by the Trust yet amended to meet the needs of all pupils.

Below is a summary of the CPD activities bespoke to Writing:

• Staff meetings to aid teachers with knowledge and In-house CPD sessions on Talk for Writing
• Drop-ins, team teaching and coaching available for staff from the writing leads
• Clear and progressive planning ensures that teachers are given the subject knowledge needed
• external training given by experts from Talk for Writing both for subject leads and staff

Impact

We are ambitious for all our children and strive to ensure that we provide all children with the skills needed for them to become successful writers, no matter what their starting point, background or additional needs. We expect our children to become writers who:

• Enjoy writing and view themselves as effective, competent writers;
• Have a good understanding of the purpose of writing and can write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences.
• Have a wide vocabulary that they use within their writing.
• Leave primary school being able to effectively apply spelling rules and patterns they have been taught.

We aim to meet the expectations of the Early Learning Goals and the National Curriculum and when possible, exceed these and ensure that children make good progress in Writing during their time at Havelock Schools.

Therefore, we aim to achieve:

• Outcomes at the end of KS1 in writing that are at least in line with or above national averages for attainment at both standards.
• Outcomes at the end of KS2 in writing that are at least in line with or above national averages for attainment at both standards and progress.
• The % of pupils working at Age Related Expectations in writing within each year group will be at least in line with national averages.
• The % of pupils working at Greater Depth in writing within each year group will be at least in line with national averages.