At Thorner C of E Primary School, writing is an inspiring and creative subject that enables every child to communicate ideas, express themselves and write for authentic purposes and audiences. Our ambitious writing curriculum is carefully aligned to the National Curriculum and informed by the Department for Education's Writing Framework: Teaching the Foundations of Literacy. Through high-quality texts, explicit teaching and meaningful writing opportunities, pupils develop the knowledge, vocabulary and skills needed to become confident, fluent and effective writers.

We place equal importance on the foundations of writing, including handwriting, spelling, grammar and sentence construction, so that pupils secure fluent transcription and can focus their attention on composition. Writing knowledge is taught in a carefully sequenced progression from Early Years to Year 6, enabling pupils to build on prior learning, make connections and achieve increasingly sophisticated outcomes over time.

Our carefully chosen core texts provide rich language models, broaden pupils' knowledge of the world and inspire purposeful, high-quality writing. We want every child to leave Thorner as a confident writer who takes pride in their work and is equipped to succeed in the next stage of their education.

Intent

At Thorner, we intend for all pupils to:

• Develop a love of writing and see themselves as successful writers.
• Secure the foundational knowledge of spelling, handwriting, grammar and composition needed for writing success.
• Write confidently, accurately and creatively for a range of authentic purposes, audiences and contexts.
• Build and apply an increasingly rich vocabulary to communicate effectively.
• Reflect on, edit and improve their writing to strengthen quality and impact.
• Take pride in presenting and publishing work of a high standard.

Implementation

Our writing curriculum is coherently sequenced so that pupils secure essential foundational knowledge before applying it to increasingly complex writing tasks. Teachers assess learning carefully and adapt teaching to ensure all pupils, including those with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, successfully access and achieve the curriculum.

Key features of our approach include:

• High-quality texts that inspire ideas, enrich vocabulary and provide strong models for writing.
• Progressive writing assessment frameworks that clearly identify the knowledge and skills pupils need to secure and build over time.
• Writing opportunities that are purpose-driven and audience-focused, making learning authentic, meaningful and engaging.
• Explicit teaching and revisiting of ambitious vocabulary to support language development and retention.
• Little Wandle Handwriting (EYFS and KS1) and Letter-join (KS2) to develop fluent, legible handwriting.
• Little Wandle Phonics and Little Wandle Spelling (EYFS to Year 2), alongside Spelling Shed (Years 2 to 6), to secure accurate transcription and spelling knowledge.

Writing is taught through our structured Collect, Connect, Create approach:

Collect
Pupils immerse themselves in high-quality texts, explore language choices, analyse effective examples of writing and gather ambitious vocabulary.

Connect
Teachers use explicit modelling to teach sentence construction, grammar, punctuation and composition. Pupils develop ideas and practise applying new learning.

Create
Pupils draft, edit, refine and publish their writing, responding to feedback and taking increasing ownership of the writing process.

In Early Years and Key Stage 1, Little Wandle provides a strong foundation in phonics, transcription, letter formation and purposeful early writing, ensuring pupils are well prepared for future success.

Impact

As a result of our writing curriculum:

• Pupils write confidently, accurately and fluently across a range of subjects and contexts.
• Pupils use ambitious vocabulary and make informed authorial choices.
• Pupils apply spelling, grammar and punctuation knowledge with increasing accuracy.
• Pupils edit and refine their work independently, improving quality and impact.
• Pupils present their work with pride and produce writing of a high standard.
• Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education as articulate, creative and capable writers.

What Our Children Say About Writing at Thorner

"I love writing because I get to express myself and show what I can do. I also love to see how my handwriting, spelling and work improves all the time."

"I like writing because I can get lost in it. It gives me a sort of release that nothing else can."

"I like writing at Thorner because it doesn't matter if you are writing a story, diary, biography or a poem, you can always express your creativity."

"I really like writing because I improve every day and I learn new words all the time. The words help make my writing better and it is always fun."