At St Thomas More, we have high expectations of all of our children. We aim to develop children’s love of writing and discussion. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We want to inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and who can use discussion to communicate and further their learning. Overall, we want our children to have a positive attitude towards writing and leave with the skills needed to function in society effectively.

English across the curriculum
In order to provide high quality provision and to improve standards in English, we integrate English across the curriculum. All children are given regular opportunities for extended writing in: History, Geography, RE and Science through our topic-based Cornerstones curriculum.

Scaffolds
Teachers provide writing scaffolds and success criteria to ensure consistency and progress throughout the school following the targets set out by the National Curriculum.

Assessment of Writing
Writing is a central part of the curriculum and involves a series of complex skills that need structured teaching and practice to come to fruition. From Y1 –Y6, children follow a framework that enables them to experience and write in all the genres. Each child is given an Assessment Book in Y1 which stays with them though out the school. All writing assessments are written into this book and this forms the child’s writing story and record of progress.

Moderation takes place between year groups every half term and with other schools every term. All teachers use the writing frameworks to review and assess writing, which have been specifically designed for each year group.

Young Writers Competition 

Spelling

• Each year group has a termly set of spellings assigned to them following the age related expectations from the 2014 National Curriculum. The full set for the term can be accessed via individual class pages.

• Every week your child will have a spelling test on the Monday and new spellings are then assigned on the Wednesday. 

• The spelling test is recorded in the reading diary so you will be able to see which spellings were spelt correctly/ incorrectly.

• High Frequency Words and Tricky words are tested from Reception onwards. They are taught within Phonics, Writing and Reading sessions by teachers and assessed every half term in order to track progress.

• Those who struggle with spelling are included on a SMART intervention which is in class, Wave 3 or Precision teaching approach.