2013 whole school focus -Writing
We have writing as a key action plan because we want to ensure our children being taught in the most effective way to ensure that they become highly competent writers. We feel it is time we fully investigated our approach to writing and will do so in the following ways:
Main outline:
Mrs Fletcher as a Leading Literacy Teacher to undertake relevant local authority training and to cascade this information to all members of the teaching team.
For all teachers to have training in relation to the New Curriculum.
Opportunities to write are extended through all curriculum areas, influenced and promoted by all subject leaders.
Subject Leader in role as ‘leading literacy teacher’ to run parental workshop on writing.
Subject leader to train teachers in the Pie Corbett ‘talk for writing’ model. Adopting a threefold and cumulative approach, aiming to enhance writing skills by ‘imitation’ (learning texts and stories by heart, and discussing and dissecting them); ‘innovation’ (guiding children to adapt stories and write their own versions); and ‘invention’ (children create their own text, with varying levels of support).
Subject leader to observe all classes undertake the talk for writing model.
With support from our coaches, share our thoughts about teaching writing, objectives for improvement and strategies to move forwards.
SLT undertake random writing monitoring throughout the year. Looking at next step marking as a way to see progression.
Ensure teachers are fully gemmed up on how to level a piece of writing. How to set appropriate targets for children and how to produce effective next step marking. The subject leader must check that this is being undertaken at least once a term by random unthreating checks.
Hold termly writing competitions.
Run a creative writing club and share the pieces written with people in school.
Add a writing blog to the school website. Children write stories email to nominated teacher, who checks and then adds the piece to the website.
Add a section to the website which helps parents understand how to help their child at home with writing.
Promote short opportunities for writing by increased use of the learning platform as a way to generating discussion points.
As the year unfolds this is may well be amended as our investigations bring to light to new ideas and approaches.