Writing

We are all writers:

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Some examples of work:

At the GLA, our vision is for everyone to know that they are writers. We

strive to breakdown barriers so that all children can experience the joy of seeing their ideas come to life.

“I am the clash and collide of the stars

because I create worlds.” I am a writer by Joeseph Coelh

Our vision:

I picked up the pencil but it was too hard to write. The letters shook and wobbled on the page and refused to sit on the perfect line. The ideas were alive in my head but not on the page.

Instead, my brain worked overtime. What did my teacher want me to write? What rhymed with enough? Though, through, plough, dough or cough?

I searched my memory for inspiration. It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. A Tale of Two Cities. I wanted to tell my own stories in my own way (just like Dickens), for I wanted to be a writer…

I could have given up. My ideas lost to the world. My writing finished with a big, fat…

FULL STOP.

I didn’t, for I wanted to be a writer…

It could have ended there, but I was a child of The GLA: a trust full of aspirations so high that it destroyed any barrier I had to writing. The Wicked Stepmother, Evil Pea, Rumpelstiltskin, The Three Witches, Grendel and - of course - The Big, Bad Wolf! The ideas started to come alive for me, for I was becoming a writer…

The power of curiosity took over me. My teachers encouraged me to, ‘Say it loud and say it proud for all to hear! For no child’s voice should be lost or disappear!’ I was a writer. I was taught the magic of vocabulary (modelled texts showed me the way): I could twist and turn and move and bend my ideas. I could scare and argue and explain and excite.

At times, the writing and spelling of the words still scared me but I was encouraged to practice every day. The sounds turned into words: grapheme to phoneme and phoneme to grapheme. A simple formula when you know how.

Today, I am a writer, who can communicate to all. No challenge too big, too daunting or too small. So, I ask you to think: what does your story say?

By

My name is unknown but I was once a child – just like you - who needed support to bring a world of words to life. A child who needed belief and aspiration.

 

 We are WRITERS!

Children as writers

At Tredington, our vision is for everyone to know that they are writers. We strive to break down barriers so that all children can experience the joy of seeing their ideas come to life. We promote, ‘say it loud, say it proud for all to hear!’

Adults as writers

Writing provides an opportunity to use literary devices to be creative and imaginative. This is not just for children! Adults at Tredington are given time to develop their own skills as writers, whilst enjoying the process of writing with dedicated training time.

 

Development of Oracy Skills

Our Tredington writing strategy encompasses the key principles from ‘Talk 4 Writing' developed by Pie Corbett. Key to this, is the oral imitation of language - if you can't say a sentence, you won't be able to write it! After this, children analyse and adapt the text before going on to write their own versions. Children will know this as the ‘imitate, innovate, independent application’ writing cycle.

 

High Quality Texts to Support Writing

Chosen texts

The texts which children study, as part of their writing cycle, span a variety of genres: historical fiction, classic fairytales, humour, classic novels, poetry and the latest picks! Texts have been chosen to:

Readers’ Theatre

Through daily class reading and Readers’ Theatre lessons, children develop an understanding of authorial intent. Extracts from our chosen high-quality texts allow children to convey meaning through their voice, facial expressions and gestures, whilst experiencing the enjoyment that reading aloud can bring.

Supporting ideas

We want to expand children‘s ideas and imagination, ensuring all children build a repertoire of ideas from differing authors. During innovation and independent application stages, children are able to ‘magpie‘ ideas, vocabulary, phrases and sentences from the text to support their own writing.

Combining Writing Skills

Explicit Grammar Teaching

Tredington follow the National Curriculum and explicitly teach grammar skills from the designed programmes of study. Dedicated skills lessons ensure children are taught the grammar skills necessary to understand and apply literary devices. Grammar starters ensure children revisit the skills often.

Contextualised Grammar

Through modelled texts, children are shown the grammar to be taught in context. Children will identify the grammar, before explicit grammar lessons teach the skill. Children will apply this knowledge through ‘short burst writing'. Dictation sentences provide children the opportunity to practise the grammar skills in a variety of different sentences.

Spelling Strategy

Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) provides children with the phonetical knowledge required to recognise and write the many graphemes of the English language. The spelling strategy builds upon the need for oral rehearsal; children say the word, before breaking down into the single phonemes ready to spell. As children enter KS2, ELS strategies continue to be used, progressively building the knowledge of spelling patterns and the relationship between spelling and meaning.

Handwriting Strategy

Children need to develop fluent, legible and, eventually, speedy handwriting. In doing so children can effectively communicate across the curriculum. The Nelson Handwriting scheme provides a progressive sequenced to formation of letters and joins and closely follows the ELS progression of letters.

 

Y2 National Curriculum Spellings can be found here

Y3-4 National Curriculum Spellings can be found here

Y5-6 National Curriculum Spellings can be found here