Writing

Writing at Our School

At our school, we are committed to nurturing confident, capable writers who feel inspired to express their ideas with clarity, creativity and purpose, whatever the audience or task.

High-Quality Texts and Meaningful Contexts

Our writing curriculum is built around high-quality, carefully chosen texts that inspire pupils and provide rich models of language. These texts are selected to reflect diversity, challenge thinking and engage children, while also linking meaningfully to the wider curriculum.

Writing Progression

Mark making matters!

That is why, from day one in our nursery, our children are provided with daily opportunities to mark make and write for different purposes across the setting.

Our youngest writers can be found enjoying activities to develop their gross and fine motor skills which help to strengthen the small muscles in their hands, wrists and arms.

We encourage mark making and writing through all curriculum areas and our teachers explicitly model what is expected through modelled and shared writing activities.

From reception onwards, correct letter formation is taught discreetly in our daily phonics lessons.

We fully understand the importance of oracy in early writing. High quality texts, storytelling, rhyme and songs are integral to our curriculum and are evidenced across our environment. Throughout their time in Ashlings, our children explore stories through learning and retelling them with puppets and props. During the reception year, writing activities are carefully planned to provide opportunities for the children to respond to these texts in a purposeful way.

Through careful planning and skilful, adaptive teaching, our youngest writers are fully supported through their journeys of:

• Hearing to telling stories
• Speaking to mark making
• Forming recognisable letters to writing captions and short sentences

Building on strong foundations in Early Years, we follow a clearly sequenced writing progression based on The Literacy Tree programme from Years 1–6. This ensures that writing skills are developed systematically across the school. Units are carefully planned to build on prior learning, allowing pupils to revisit and embed key skills while gradually increasing independence, complexity and ambition in their writing.

Through this approach, pupils are taught to:

• Understand text structure and authorial intent
• Develop rich vocabulary and sentence variety
• Plan, draft, edit and publish writing effectively
• Write for a range of genres and purposes

Talk underpins every stage of our writing process. Across the school, pupils are given regular opportunities to discuss ideas, rehearse language and explore vocabulary before putting pen to paper. Structured talk, drama, debate and collaborative discussion help pupils clarify their thinking, deepen their understanding of texts and strengthen the quality of their written outcomes. By valuing oracy as a key part of the writing journey, we ensure that pupils develop both the confidence and the language needed to express themselves effectively.

We also want pupils to leave us with a genuine enjoyment of writing. Our aim is that, alongside strong skills, they carry forward a positive relationship with writing that supports them in school and in the wider world.