Writing

Written tasks are designed to complement the chosen literature, whilst ensuring a wide range of appropriate writing genre are taught and revisited during their time here, at Riverside. Emphasis is on teaching children how to write effectively, using presentational features and language appropriate to the audience. A fundamental aspect of writing is the editing process and throughout Riverside, children are taught that their ‘best’ writing is unlikely to be their first draft! Right from the start, children evaluate their own writing and comment on the work of others; they do this with increasing skill during their time here.

Spelling, handwriting and grammar are also viewed as key elements of the English curriculum and children are taught to take pride in their work and its presentation in every year group.

We follow the Little Wandle programme, more information can be found on our phonics and reading page.

We ensure the teaching of phonics is pacy and offers opportunity to apply immediately to writing and reading. We firmly believe that children should all have the same exposure to all phonics teaching with a ‘keep up, not catch up’ approach. Where needed, daily and concise phonics intervention is used to plug gaps. To further embed our application of phonics, we use ‘Bug club’ reading books to ensure blending and segmenting is achievable through a combination of high quality phonics and daily opportunities for reading.

You can view/download our writing progressions grid below:

More details coming soon on handwriting, our writing scheme and links to The Starmat Writing Strategy.