The Annunciation Catholic Junior School

Writing

As a main curriculum subject, we place a high emphasis on the teaching of English at The Annunciation Catholic Junior School . English involves the teaching of reading, writing, spelling, grammar and handwriting. By the end of Year 6 our children are equipped with skills in these areas that provide them with the foundations needed for future learning and to support them in their daily lives.

English is taught everyday throughout the school. Alongside this, children have three reading lessons a week and dedicated spelling and handwriting lessons.

We understand that for children to become excellent writers they need to have access to a rich reading diet and therefore we aim to engage the children with different genres of books and encourage them to read for pleasure.  As well as this, the school has a well-stocked selection of home readers that cover a variety of genres both fiction and non-fiction. Each class looks at a text in their writing lessons which links to the what they study in their reading lessons. Each class text is chosen for a specific year group offering sufficient challenge.   High quality texts are also used by the teachers to read aloud to the children, modelling for them good reading and allowing them to become immersed in text at the end of every school day. 

Our school intent places a large emphasis on vocabulary. It is for this reason that every lesson has a focus on vocabulary and new words and taught and clarified at the beginning of every lesson. Across all lessons children actively use their Vocabulary diaries and are encouraged to use dictionaries and thesauri when needed. Each week pupils and staff are introduced to a new SUAVE word. This is to broaden vocabulary and therefore help with reading and writing. The pupils will complete activities in class to learn the spelling of the new word and all pupils and staff will be encouraged to use the word when talking as much as possible.

Pupils will receive a weekly task on Class Dojo to write a definition of the new word and to put the word in context into a sentence. The SUAVE word will also be published in the newsletter and uploaded onto the school website so that parents can join in as well.

Writing is a priority at The Annunciation Catholic Junior School and the children are given the opportunity to complete extended pieces of writing every week and across the curriculum. Children are taught the grammar, punctuation and vocabulary skills needed to complete a good piece of writing. Alongside our English lessons children also take part in weekly Big Writing sessions where they cover a variety of genres in a fun and engaging way.  Every Friday one child from each class is chosen as The Laureate of The Week and the children have their work framed and placed on a display in our main corridor. This motivates the children to do well. Throughout the school, displays of excellent writing can also be seen.

Years 3-6 spelling is taught using the Read Write Inc Scheme and organised around spelling patterns. Children learn the rules of spelling and are given opportunities to work independently and with partners to practise and apply these rules. Children are also given the opportunity to write down any spellings which they think are ‘tricky’ and bring them home to learn for the following lesson.

Handwriting is taught at the beginning of each term using the Letterjoin scheme ensuring the children know and can use the correct letter formations and joins. Children are expected to use continuous cursive script handwriting at all times and this is modelled by the adults through marking, displays and board work. Children are encouraged to continue to improve their handwriting, working towards being awarded a pen license.