WRITING AT BOURNEHALL
At Bournehall Primary School we value writing because:
- it enables us to communicate our ideas with others
- it makes our thinking visible
- writing down our ideas helps us preserve them so that we can reflect on them later
- it promotes our ability to pose worthwhile questions
- it is portable and permanent, making our thinking visible
- it equips us with the communication and thinking skills we need to participate effectively in society.
A WRITER:
- has the ability to write fluently and with interesting detail on a number of topics throughout the curriculum
- has a vivid imagination which makes the reader engage with and enjoy their writing
- has a highly developed vocabulary and an excellent knowledge of writing techniques to extend details or description
- uses a variety of sentence structures in well-organised and structured writing
- uses excellent transcription skills to ensure their writing is well presented and punctuated, spelled correctly and neat
- has a love of writing and an appreciation of its educational, cultural and entertainment values
Chris Quigley – Essentials Curriculum
CONDITIONS FOR LEARNING
Children tell us that they enjoy writing and learn best when they:
- understand the big picture and the small steps
- have a chance to talk their ideas through with a partner
- use drama to recreate stories and poems
- know what they have done well and what they need to do to improve
- use their writing toolkits
- are writing for a purpose
- are writing about subjects that interest them
- learn from their mistakes
- publish their writing to a wider audience
Writing:
- needs a purpose and an audience - both are central to effective writing – pupils need to have a reason to write and someone to write for
- uses a wide range of starting points, e.g. high quality books, art, music, and children’s own lives and experiences
- needs pupils to be taught strategies for planning and monitoring their writing
- includes the teaching of pre-writing activities, structuring text, sentence combination, summarising, drafting, editing and revising, and sharing.
- consists of the teaching of fluent transcription skills by encouraging extensive and effective practice of handwriting or typing and by explicitly teaching spelling.
- should be modelled using flipcharts
- is made up of different components – planning, drafting, sharing, evaluating, revising, editing and publishing.
