'I love to take a boring piece of paper and turn it into anything I want!’ A Year 5 Portway pupil 2022

Writing Intent 

At Portway Junior School, we have designed our English curriculum to inspire our children to have a love of writing. We have developed a thematic approach where children’s grammar, spelling and literary skills are developed across KS2 by applying the skills to the different genres. We nurture a culture where children take pride in their work and are encouraged to be creative in their publishing. We are passionate about developing an appreciation of different texts and allowing children to access stories and authors from a diverse background. We understand that a good grasp of English is the bedrock of the entire curriculum and that children, who are confident and adept readers and writers, will be empowered to succeed in all other areas. We understand, too, the vital role played by parents and carers in the development of reading and writing and in the nurturing of positive habits, particularly in attitudes towards reading. We welcome this and value their contribution.

Implementation

We choose rich and diverse texts, which are rich in vocabulary and inspire engaging writing topics. Our teachers aim to choose texts that engage our children, extend their vocabulary and challenge their world view. To ensure a balanced coverage in genre we use a thematic approach using blocks (appendix one).

In order to ensure consistency to our writing approach, teachers use the Portway Writing Process to sequence their lessons which allows children to practise and apply the new skills taught in their lessons. As a school we draft, edit and publish our writing in our much- loved publishing books where the children are able illustrate their work and feel a sense of pride in their final pieces. We believe in celebrating all children’s writing successes and we have writing displays in the corridor and award a child from each class with the ‘Writing Star of the week,’ whereby the child’s work is displayed in a frame in the hall.

Impact

Children leave Portway Junior School as happy, confident writers who have developed a love of writing with the key skills and knowledge necessary for the next stage of their learning.  They have high aspirations and are confident in the art of writing and understand how to plan and organise their work across a range of different genres.

Appendix 1

Appendix 2