A whole-school approach to developing pupils as effective writers
Information about the school
The primary school is located within the village of Cwmbach near Aberdare, with part of the catchment area being identified as a Flying Start area. The school has 247 pupils on roll, from Nursery to Year 6, with nine mainstream classes plus two centrally funded Complex Learning Needs Classes, one in Foundation Phase and one in Key Stage 2. The school provides full time Nursery provision from the September following the child’s third birthday. The school employs 8 FTE class teachers, plus 2 HLTAs and a 70% teacher. These staff are supported by 8 FTE Teaching Assistants and 4.5 FTE SNSA.
The percentage of free school meals pupils has increased significantly over the last few years to 21.8%. The proportion of pupils who are identified as having additional learning needs is 25.2%. The proportion of pupils for whom English is an additional language is 2.9%.
Context and background to the effective or innovative practice
Prior to the amalgamation of Cwmbach Junior, Infant and Nursery schools, Cwmbach Junior School delivered the literacy curriculum through the Big Writing approach. Although pupil engagement and the volume of writing was high, standards were inconsistent throughout the school and the quality of pupils’ grammar, reading and spelling was below expectations. All writing was completed within a week and so there was little room in the writing journey for grammar development or editing. Listening to learners’ activities identified that pupils struggled to explain why they were writing and didn’t have the vocabulary to explain why they had selected specific grammatical phrases or vocabulary. Subsequent monitoring identified a need to develop the writing learning journey to better represent the writing process of professional authors and to develop staff and pupils’ understanding of grammar and the whole staff’s understanding of effective pedagogy in writing.
Description of nature of strategy or activity
The changes in writing practice over three years were the result of an incremental process that focussed on pedagogy and the theory of learning, rather than the activities themselves. The greatest improvements were seen in areas where training began with academic research and the ‘why’ of the changes were discussed with staff.
Once writing had been identified as an area of school improvement, the initial start point was spelling, as teaching spelling was familiar to staff and something that they felt comfortable with. Before deciding on any changes, all teaching staff were given an academic journal on spelling to read and were asked to feed back to the rest of the teaching staff on their conclusions. The findings identified a need for spellings to be embedded in the writing journey, with regular revisiting where children looked for patterns and exceptions to rules. Teachers then trialled different approaches and fed back on the impact of the work. This research also identified why previously used spelling schemes had failed to raise standards, as they were not integrated into the writing journey and do not create links between learning.
In collaboration with a literacy consultant, a bespoke ten-day learning journey for writing was developed that better represented the writing process of professional authors. This journey included hooks, word level and oracy days and a specific focus on grammar, spelling and editing. For each day in the journey, a bank of resources was developed that have been continually added to. Over the course of the next year, staff training on each area of the writing journey was delivered and regular moderation between year groups took place in order to improve consistency and standards.
As identified through discussions with staff, book scrutiny, and lesson observations, standards were raised in all areas but grammar. A comprehensive programme of grammar improvement was developed to support staff and pupils’ understanding of grammar, and how it could effectively be taught. The first two grammar twilights were entirely focussed on building staff’s understanding of and confidence in grammar. This included how to identify and use word classes, sentence types, differences in formal and informal language, and examples of how grammar is evolving and that exceptions should be explored by pupils, not avoided. The remaining three sessions focused on the pedagogy of grammar and included staff discussions on effective and ineffective activities online and in textbooks, how to integrate the teaching of grammar into a learning journey, and expectations in each progression step. All teaching and support staff were present in the training to ensure that messages and training were consistent and these sessions were recorded so that new members of staff could access the training. A map of grammar from Year 1 to Year 6 was developed so that average expectations were identified, whilst teachers were empowered to differentiate the work depending on the pupils’ prior achievement. To support the writing of pupils with additional learning needs (ALN), scaffolding training was provided to all staff. This included how to front load information, and how to use tools such as substitution tables to support independence.
Academic research carried out by staff identified the importance of children seeing writing constructs such as spelling and grammar in context. Teachers worked together to understand how to write model texts that catered specifically to the children’s needs, and included the spelling and grammar that would be studied in the writing fortnight.
All of this training contributed to a holistic approach to teaching writing, where each stage is based on pedagolical principles and academic research. The teaching of writing now begins with the model, where teachers identify the spellings, grammar and literary devices that are needed to teach that piece of writing. This model is shared at the beginning of the learning journey and the fortnight is built of activities that are specifically designed to support the writing of that piece, rather than insular and disparate activities that do not reference the model or final piece of writing.
What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
As a shared bank of vocabulary and activities were developed through the training, staff are now more confident discussing the pedagogy and grammatical terms. Through continual monitoring and discussions between staff, it was identified that staff were carrying out too many grammar activities and neglecting other parts of the learning journey. Moderation and peer support helped the staff to balance the learning journey to ensure that while there was flexibility in their approach, all elements needed for the pupils to become effective writers, are addressed.
Almost all pupils’ writing is more adventurous and children are able to articulate their learning journey more clearly. They are more reflective in the grammar that they use and are beginning to justify their grammar choices. As teachers are more confident in understanding what sentences comprise and how to recognise activities that encourage misconceptions, more pupils can confidently demarcate sentences and use a wider range of punctuation. Many children are now more independent in their writing and are less reliant on word and sentence banks, instead using scaffolding tools to write independently. The independence of pupils, particularly ALN pupils, has increased, allowing all staff to support pupils’ writing, rather than spending time encouraging them to write. Staff and pupils across the school are far more confident in writing and the enthusiasm for writing has enabled a culture of continual improvement and new ideas.
How have you shared your good practice?
The approach to writing has been shared with cluster schools, where head teachers and subject leaders have been given the opportunity to visit the school and see the writing approach in practice. The Deputy Head Teacher has featured on the Central South Consortium Literacy Podcast and been invited to podcasts by Education Consultancies across South Wales. The school is hosting open days and providing training to literacy leads, to support the development of a grammar and a literacy journey.
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