Writing

 Our approach to  writing at Lakenham

Writing is taught daily. We use a range of books, videos, experiences and music as stimuli to inspire our children and expose them to rich vocabulary and writing structures.
Teachers use CUSP planning resources to help build and sequence units, ensuring coverage of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, adapting to the needs of the cohort. Staff adapt planning to meet the needs of their class, to provide practical experiences to children using small world objects, drama and real life experiences to ensure that they have a full understanding of the character, setting or emotion that they are to use.
We encourage children to have a go and then, with skilful teacher input and support, we work through the recognised stages of development to ensure that written work, spelling, phonics, grammar and punctuation are developed gradually through children’s writing. We use scaffolds to support correct letter formation and encourage children to join from the end of Key Stage 1, or when they are developmentally ready.

As they develop, children are encouraged to see writing as a powerful means of self-expression and communication and to write for a range of purposes.  

Writing Assessment  

We use writing grids that have various objectives from the National Curriculum to assess writing during and after the writing sequence.

This is then used to inform future teacher planning, as well as identify class and individual next steps.

The Writing Environment

 Across the school, our environments reflect our writing sequence. We celebrate our children's writing through displays, and use working walls to support our pupils when they are writing.

Examples from our children... 

Year 2 and Year 4