Intent

 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, regardless of ability, should be 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.

Implementation 

In Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes follow the Pie Corbett ‘Talk for Writing’ approach, placing a strong emphasis on developing fluency and confidence and clarity in the oral traditions of storytelling and sharing. This ‘Storyteller as a Writer’ method supports children in their initial stages of writing, developing an awareness of audience, structure and vocabulary amongst other important aspects

In Year 3 – 6 children follow a two-week cycle of lessons that centre on a ‘Reader as a Writer’ approach, seeing the value in absorbing the rhythms and patterns of language primarily through the text-centred focus to writing. This supports children in finding and honing their own voice as an author. Each year group study texts which cover a range of genres in fiction, all non-fiction text types and a range of poetry. Every term pupils will encounter a unit on writing to entertain; then two more units out of: writing to inform; writing to persuade; or writing to discuss.

Please see the Writing Overviews below: