Writing, Spelling and Grammar
At Barkisland, we have made our writing, spelling and grammar approach a more diagnostic and contextualised style.
Each year group is taught their focused text types, leading to a writing outcome, typically over a 3 week period - this is called our writing journey. Within our writing journey the children are exposed to model texts written specifically for their year group. These text types incorporate spelling, punctuation and grammar particular to that text type. Hence, the whole writing journey becomes contextualised and more meaningful rather than elements being taught in isolation. Every half term, the children focus on 2 different text types. Attached is our whole school overview showing what the children will be studying.
The spelling of tricky/statutory words alongside spelling patterns and rules are taught within the writing journey over the 3 week period. Therefore, children learn a range of spellings across the course of that writing journey rather than different spellings every week. This makes spellings more meaningful for the children and the children are exposed to the spellings more frequently which in turn, should result in a higher success rate when the spellings are applied to their writing.
At the end of the writing unit, the children have a spelling test based on the on the tricky/statutory spelling words set out in the National Curriculum as well as being asked to apply the spelling rule they have been learning, practising and applying over the course of the writing journey. To support the children with their spellings the children have a bookmark of the spellings in school and also have a copy of this to take home roughly every three weeks. If the children wish to practise the spellings at home and have a go at the spelling patterns and rules, then this is optional as we feel the children will be exposed to the spellings enough over the writing journey and have opportunities to practise them in school to become successful.
In Key Stage 1, the spelling journey differs slightly as the children need to be exposed to different phonemes each week and the teacher tests the children on their understanding of these phonemes. However, every three weeks roughly, the children are tested on the National Curriculum words for that year group. In the first instance Year One do not receive spelling bookmarks to take home, but begin to take them home once the children have got used to this new way of working with writing and spelling.
Attached is a copy of our spelling and writing journey which provides a clear visual picture of the approach we have adopted.
For more detailed information about what is taught in each year group, please see our class curriculum newsletters.
