Writing

At St John’s, we endeavour to create a love of writing by cultivating both technical proficiency and creative expression. Our writing curriculum is carefully designed to guide every child towards becoming a fluent writer, equipped with their own authorial voice. This journey involves developing the ability to reflect on how their writing impacts the reader, helping them understand the connection between intention and effect.

The curriculum exposes students to a variety of text types, fostering an appreciation for different writing forms and the significance of these genres beyond the classroom setting. Through this exposure, children are not only taught how to write but are also encouraged to see the broader importance of writing in everyday life and different contexts.

Writing lessons build progressively, ensuring that grammar, spelling, and editing are systematically integrated across all years. Students consistently develop a deep understanding of the rules and techniques that contribute to clear, effective writing. Lessons are planned to engage students and make learning enjoyable, ensuring that new content builds upon previous knowledge in ways that are memorable and purposeful.

As a result, by the time children leave St John’s, they possess both a comprehensive understanding of a wide variety of text types and the ability to write with intent, fluency, and a clear sense of purpose.

  At St John’s, we employ a cross-curricular approach to teaching writing, providing teachers with the flexibility to tailor their lessons to suit the needs of their pupils while ensuring the goals of the curriculum are met. The teaching team is well-prepared, continuously enhancing their skills through training and collaboration, which fosters a shared understanding of the best practices for writing instruction. Teachers plan each unit with a specific linguistic focus, ensuring that the objectives are clear and the students are equipped to meet them.

Each writing unit is structured around:

• A clear purpose that aims to develop specific writing skills.
• Engaging and relevant topics designed to make learning stimulating for all pupils.
• Model texts that provide examples of the key linguistic patterns students will explore and internalize, alongside additional texts to stretch and challenge them further.

The writing process is explicitly taught in daily lessons, and the skills are consistently reinforced across the broader curriculum. By using diverse resources—novels, films, poetry, and real-life events—students experience a wide range of contexts for writing, ensuring that learning remains engaging and memorable. Teachers model writing techniques in the classroom, demonstrating the steps involved in crafting texts, allowing students to participate actively in shared writing exercises, which later transition into more independent tasks.

To support ongoing professional development, teachers have opportunities to observe colleagues and share effective practices, as well as moderating writing together,  ensuring that best teaching methods are continuously refined. This collaborative environment helps maintain high standards across the school, contributing to the strong writing outcomes for all pupils.

The progression of writing skills is carefully planned throughout each year, with repeated opportunities to practice different genres. This ensures that by the time pupils leave St John’s, they are capable of writing effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences. Writing lessons are scaffolded to build on prior learning, allowing children to develop a solid foundation of skills that is expanded upon year by year.

In terms of inclusivity, every child is provided with the tools they need to succeed, regardless of their starting point. For children with special educational needs (SEN), writing tasks are appropriately differentiated, ensuring that all pupils can engage and achieve in the subject. The curriculum is designed to be accessible to every learner, while still offering sufficient challenge to stretch higher-achieving students.

Spelling is taught outside of English lessons using the Spelling Shed program, providing a fun and engaging approach to learning spellings. This system, combined with a range of strategies for personalised learning, ensures that students develop into competent lifelong spellers.

In Early Years and Key Stage 1, phonics is delivered through the Little Wandle scheme, with staff members trained to ensure consistency and fidelity to the program. For students needing additional support, the rapid catch-up program is available throughout Key Stage 2 to help the lowest 20%, ensuring that all pupils are given the opportunity to succeed in writing.

The teaching of grammar and Standard English is integrated into every writing lesson, with skills being developed progressively throughout the school. Teachers provide models for writing, thinking out loud as they compose, revise, and refine their work. This process allows students to understand the reasoning behind different writing choices and engage in shared writing activities. Scaffolding is used to support students as they move from guided to independent writing, helping them to gain confidence and proficiency in their abilities.

At St John’s we strive for our children to be enthusiastic and confident writers.  We want them to make progress and to have transferrable skills to be lifelong learners.  Children will be exposed to different cultures, our literary heritage and have a wealth of knowledge of different genres.  They will have stamina for writing and be confident applying grammar and punctuation.

All aspects of English are an integral part of the curriculum and skills taught in English are identifiable in other subjects: this shows consolidation of skills and a deeper understanding of when to apply specific grammar, punctuation and spelling.

This ability to write with confidence for a range of purposes and audiences ensures that children leave St John’s fully prepared for their secondary education, ready to achieve their aspirations and thrive in their adult life.