English
"Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path" Psalm 119:105
What if we did not have a written language?
It's an interesting question, isn't it? Without written language, perhaps we could not share our ideas, our thoughts, our feelings. Maybe inventions that we take for granted would not have been invented. Stories that we know and love so much would never have been told. We would not have been able to record our history, perhaps repeatedly making the same mistakes. Above all, without the written word, we may never reach our own potential, be able to inspire others, or achieve our goals and aspirations.
Writing Curriculum Intent
With this in mind, our intent is for all pupils to be capable readers and writers with the ability to transfer their English skills to other subjects using a wide range of purposeful vocabulary. At Wharton C of E Primary School, we know and understand our children. We have been listening to our pupils' voices, and we have created a curriculum that encourages them to become enthusiastic learners and engaged with writing. We provide our children with rich and varied learning opportunities across the curriculum that help them to become proud and confident writers. We want our children to have a positive attitude towards writing and to be able to independently express their emotions and their ideas. Through our writing curriculum (Pathways to Write), we strive to teach the children how important their writing skills will be in the future. We can indeed ‘train up a child in the way they should go: and when they are old, they will not depart from it’.
Writing Curriculum Implementation: Pathways to Write
At Wharton C of E Primary School, we use the ‘Pathways to Write’ progressive English curriculum. Following a Mastery approach, the programme's units of work are delivered using high-quality texts - picture books, novels, poetry and non-fiction - enabling children in all year groups to be given varied opportunities for writing. Whenever possible, these texts are linked to learning across the wider curriculum. Skills are built up through repetition within the units, allowing children to apply these skills in the writing activities provided. Many opportunities for extending children’s vocabulary are given through the Pathways to Write approach and this builds on the extensive work we do in school to provide our children with a rich and varied vocabulary across the curriculum.
Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar lessons are embedded throughout Pathways to Write planning and are implemented over the course of each unit of work. Each week, classes promote the learning of spelling, including national statutory words, common exception words and spelling rules through the ‘No-nonsense Spelling’ scheme. We believe that the teaching of spelling, grammar and punctuation enables children to be able to maximise their potential in reading and writing.
The Pathways to Write objectives for each year group can be found in the downloadable documents below.
Developing Cultural Capital
‘It is the essential knowledge that pupils need to be educated citizens, introducing them to the best that has been thought and said and helping to engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement.’ The National Curriculum on cultural capital
In our English curriculum (Pathways to Write and Read), we aim to inspire our pupils through the books and poetry that we share with them. Our texts have been carefully chosen to cover a wide range of themes as well as creating windows (for pupils to see the wider world) and mirrors (for pupils to see themselves). These texts often allow our children to reflect on events from the past, what is happening in the world now, and their own place within it.
Here are just some examples of our texts which develop cultural capital:
- The Curious Case of the Missing Mammoth – giving our pupils a window into museums, what they look like, what they have inside and how exciting they can be
- Seal Surfer – observing the beauty of a British coastline alongside watching a young boy overcome his disability and learning to surf
- Grandad’s Secret Giant – seeing how kindness and friendship can bring a community together despite their differences
- Radiant Child – the story of the artist Jean Michel Basquiat who is regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century
- Of Thee I Sing – inspiring our pupils to be the best that they can be by looking at famous people from history who have overcome adversity, including racism and bullying
- Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls – celebrating women who have experienced the greatest achievements, including Rosa Parks and Michelle Obama
Writing Curriculum Impact
At Wharton C of E Primary School, our children have an overwhelmingly positive attitude towards writing. They enjoy the writing hooks that we provide in lessons, and the links to speaking, listening and drama activities that inspire them further. They talk enthusiastically about their own writing and they are proud of the progress that they make throughout the year. They value writing.
The impact of our writing curriculum includes improvement in confidence, pride and sustained learning. Each unit of writing begins with a 'Gateway' task that allows assessment of previously taught skills and ends with an independent 'Writeaway' task. These sessions, along with ongoing formative assessment against the Mastery Keys being taught, enable teachers to plan lessons that are relevant to our pupils, boosting learning and progress.
Our hope is that when children move on from Wharton C of E Primary School and take their next steps into high school, they take their passion for English and their high aspirations along with them as they continue to grow and develop as writers.
T Theology R Relationships A Attitude and Aspirations I Inspire N next Steps.
Train up a child in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it. Proverbs 22 v 6