Writing
How we teach writing at St Anne's
Before the text is introduced, teachers create ‘hooks’ as an engaging starting point to generate curiosity and as a stimulus for class-discussion. Each unit lasts between 4 to 6 weeks and texts are sometimes linked to the wider curriculum.
Each new unit for English starts with a beautiful, high-quality text. These texts offer opportunities for empathy and philosophical enquiry, developing the spoken language though through debate, drama and discussion. Children have real reasons to write whether that is to explain, persuade, inform or instruct, usually on a daily basis. Within each sequence of teaching, pupils will write for different purposes and will practice their skills creating ‘shorter’, ‘longer’ and ‘extended’ writing outcomes.
Grammar and Punctuation
Wherever possible, grammar and punctuation is explored and taught within a real context: this may be done through a quality text that the children are reading in Literacy, or it could be in the shared writing which all adults model as part of the teaching process.
Spelling
In the EYFS and Year 1, children receive a daily phonics session. This teaches children to hear, say, read and write the full range of sounds needed to read and write independently. From Year 2 onwards, children are taught the age-appropriate spelling patterns as outlined in the spelling appendix of the national curriculum through the No Nonsense Spelling Programme . All children are given a set of words to practise spelling at home, and from Year 1 onwards, these are tested once a week.