Writing at Newlands

An enjoyment of high-quality literature is central to our English curriculum. We teach the National Curriculum using carefully chosen, progressively challenging texts in a "reading into writing" approach. This means we study a book or text in depth over several lessons, so pupils become familiar with its language, ideas and structure. The approach sparks a love of reading, builds strong comprehension and vocabulary, and shows pupils how to write for different purposes by learning directly from excellent examples.

At Newlands Community Primary School we put the basics of writing first. Children begin with mark-making and letter formation, then move on to building sentences and using punctuation. We teach these skills in small, clear steps so pupils become fluent at spelling and handwriting. That means their working memory is free to focus on planning, choosing better vocabulary and improving the way they write.

In lessons teachers model writing, work alongside pupils, and use examples that get harder bit by bit. Pupils practise grammar and sentence work in real writing tasks so, by the time they write longer pieces, they can control sentence structure and use a wider range of words to express their ideas clearly.

Every classroom teaches these fundamentals every day: phonics-linked handwriting, focused grammar and sentence work, time to draft and edit, and different reasons and audiences for writing. We use assessment to identify exactly which small skills a pupil still needs to practise before we expect them to tackle more complex writing.