At Holy Family we believe that developing and using language, both written and verbal, is a cornerstone for making meaning and communicating in the world. All children are given the opportunity to succeed as writers with an extensive and rich vocabulary. We want every child under our care to be able to recognise every picture they see, to write their lives, read about their lived reality and to speak into life their very hopes and dreams.
The focus on reading and sharing high quality texts is central, with children drawing on their experiences, backgrounds and diverse perspectives as they develop as writers at Holy Family. Children encounter and learn how to employ a range of grammatical structures and are submersed in a culture of rich and varied vocabulary that is essential to support their development.
At Holy Family we use Colourful Semantics to help children develop their sentence structure and language skills. By using colour-coded symbols, this method breaks down sentences into key parts, making it easier for children to understand how words work together. The colours represent different elements of a sentence, for example:
Who (subject) – usually represented in blue
What (verb/action) – in red
Where (location) – in green
How (additional information) – in yellow
This visual support allows children to build clearer, more structured sentences and helps them understand the flow of language. Colourful Semantics supports sentence construction and is a clear and engaging way to support their language development and improve their communication skills.
Unlocking Letters and Sounds: EYFS and Key Stage 1
The Unlocking Letters and Sounds phonics program is designed to support your child’s spelling and writing development by teaching them how to recognise and use sounds in words. Phonics is a key skill for both reading and writing, and this program provides a clear, structured approach to help children learn how letters and sounds work together.
Through Unlocking Letters and Sounds, children are taught to identify phonemes (sounds) and match them to graphemes (letters or groups of letters). By learning how to break down words into individual sounds, children can build and spell words more confidently. The program gradually introduces new sounds and spelling patterns, helping children to progress at their own pace and apply these rules in their writing.
How it Supports Spelling and Writing:
Phonics for spelling: By focusing on the relationship between sounds and letters, children can use phonics to help them spell unfamiliar words. They learn to decode (read) and encode (spell) words by breaking them into their component sounds, which supports their writing skills.
Building writing skills: As children master phonics, they can use their knowledge of sounds and spelling patterns to write more accurately and confidently. They can apply these skills to write simple words, sentences, and eventually more complex texts.
Reinforcement through practice: The program includes engaging activities and daily lessons that reinforce the connection between sounds and spelling. The repetition of key phonics skills helps children remember spelling patterns and use them correctly in their writing.
Progressive learning:Unlocking Letters and Sounds introduces new spelling rules gradually, allowing children to build on what they’ve learned and apply it to their writing. This gradual approach ensures that children have a solid understanding of spelling before moving on to more challenging words and writing tasks.
Overall, Unlocking Letters and Sounds supports your child’s spelling and writing by giving them the tools to sound out, spell, and write words accurately. By building strong phonics skills, your child will develop greater confidence in both their spelling and writing abilities.
Spelling Shed: Key Stage 2
The Spelling Shed scheme is an engaging and interactive tool designed to help children improve their spelling and writing skills. It combines fun games and activities with a structured approach to learning, making spelling practice enjoyable and effective.
With Spelling Shed, children are given access to a wide range of word lists, which focus on different spelling patterns, rules, and tricky words. Through daily practice, they reinforce key spelling concepts, such as common prefixes, suffixes, and word families. This systematic approach helps children not only learn how to spell words but also understand the rules behind them, making spelling more intuitive and less about memorization.
How it Supports Spelling and Writing:
Reinforces spelling rules:Spelling Shed focuses on teaching spelling patterns and rules, such as adding suffixes, handling silent letters, or learning about common word families. Children gain a deeper understanding of why words are spelled in certain ways, which supports both spelling and writing.
Builds writing confidence: By practicing spelling regularly, children become more confident writers. As their spelling improves, they are more likely to attempt new words and write more fluently, knowing they can apply the rules they have learned.
Engages and motivates: The interactive games and challenges make spelling practice fun and encourage children to keep improving. With rewards, progress tracking, and competitions, children are motivated to practice regularly, which leads to better spelling and writing over time.
In summary, Spelling Shed supports children by making spelling practice enjoyable, interactive, and effective. By reinforcing spelling patterns, motivating children through games, and building their writing confidence, this scheme plays a key role in developing strong spelling and writing skills.
Assessment
EYFS
In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), our approach to assessing writing is focused on supporting your child's development in a fun and engaging way. We aim to encourage children to express themselves through marks, symbols, and early writing, while also building their skills in letter formation, phonics, and basic sentence structure.
How We Assess Writing:
Mark Making and Drawing: We begin by observing how children explore writing through marks and drawings. This helps us understand their early attempts at communication and their ability to use tools like pencils and crayons.
Letter Formation: As children progress, we look at their ability to form letters correctly. We support them in writing their names and learning the shapes and sounds of letters.
Phonics and Spelling: We assess how children use their knowledge of letter sounds to write words, even if they aren't spelt perfectly. This helps build their confidence in sounding out and writing new words.
Early Sentences: As your child develops, we observe their ability to form simple sentences, using basic punctuation like capital letters and full stops. The goal is to help them communicate their ideas, even in the early stages of writing.
Engagement with Writing: We also look at how children engage with writing in different contexts—whether during role-play, drawing, or writing activities—encouraging them to enjoy the process of writing and expressing themselves.
Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2
In KS1 and KS2, we assess your child's writing progress three times a year to ensure that they are developing the skills they need to become confident writers. We use TAC Statements (Teacher Assessment Criteria) to assess your child's writing abilities. These statements help us measure key skills, such as letter formation, sentence structure, spelling, and punctuation.
