Writing at St Andrew’s

At St Andrew’s, we use the Talk for Writing approach across the school. This method focusses on three clear stages, imitation, innovation and independent writing and units are mapped out across the school to ensure a wide range of genres are covered and then applied across the curriculum. Each unit taught begins with a ‘Cold Write’ which is an initial independent write to allow class teachers to clearly identify areas that need to be explicitly taught. During the innovation section, the children will get to learn a model text by using text maps and actions. These come home with the children so they can practice and share what they have learnt with parents and carers. After lots of teaching and practice, the children then go on to write their own piece of independent writing know as a ‘Hot Write’. Grammar and the technicalities of writing are embedded within our English lessons. The expectations of the new curriculum are high, with children needing a secure knowledge and understanding of formal grammar, including technical vocabulary.  We carry out three writing workshops a year where parents and carers are invited into school to see what we do and learn more about English at St Andrew’s.

Handwriting at St Andrew’s

Starting in reception, we support the children with their posture, pencil grip and letter formation. We use the ‘Little Wandle’ letter formation phrases to help the children remember how to form the letters correctly. These can be found in the ‘phonics’ section of our website.

Spelling at St Andrew’s

At St Andrew’s, we use a mixture of segmenting and spelling rules set out in the National Curriculum, which enables teachers to deliver active spelling lessons from Year 2 to Year 6. Children will investigate and gain understanding of key spelling patterns and get the opportunity to activate prior knowledge by revisiting previous learning. Lessons are delivered over the year, in a series of planned out sessions, where children will be introduced to new concepts and given the opportunity to practise their skills. Statutory spellings will also be taught and you will find a list of these words above.