At Cumnor School we want every child to see themselves as  a writer; to be able to express themselves in written form confidently and fluently, and more than that, to use and enjoy a repertoire of written forms. From expressive and emotive poetry, to informative and persuasive letters, we want children to know that they can “make their mark” on the world through their written output.

phonics

We have a strong focus in the formative years of Reception and Key Stage 1 on developing the basic tools of writing: letter formation, phonic knowledge and sentence composition, and in Key Stage 2 our students embrace and explore different tones and styles of communication: playscripts, image poetry, biographies, newspaper reports, and many others. Throughout the children’s whole school journey we maintain a rich environment of stimulating materials and experiences, and our writing curriculum consistently capitalises on converting these stimuli into high quality textual output in every year group. Children are encouraged to experiment with their writing voice and regular opportunities are given for “free writes”, where children can produce any text of their choosing.

 In reception, there is an emphasis on mark making for a purpose with the aim of an accurate simple sentence by the end of the year. 

 

In year 1, weekly spelling lists are introduced and synthetic phonics is still taught daily using the same scheme. In Year 2, weekly spellings continue and the emphasis is much more on spelling and grammar rules rather than phonics. The Sounds-Write scheme will be taken forward into Year 2 in September 2023. 

 

We prioritise the teaching and learning of vocabulary across the school, building on focussed vocabulary 

work in Reception and the use of Nuffield Early language Intervention (NELI) for those who would benefit from it.

Throughout the school children are encouraged to become independent writers and to transfer skills acquired in speaking, listening and reading to their writing. Children have many opportunities to explore and enjoy writing for different purposes and audiences in a range of curriculum areas. In English lessons, writing activities link into our text rich curriculum. Pupils are encouraged to present their work in a variety of media including  digital literacy.

Specific skills in writing, such as spelling, handwriting, punctuation and grammar, are directly taught and applied through written work.  writing

Below are the relevant progression maps for writing.

Key Stage 1:
Key Stage 2 termly spelling lists: