At St Peter’s, we believe learning to write is one of the most important things that a child will learn. Not only do children use their writing in almost all other subjects of the curriculum but good writing also gives children a voice to share their ideas, opinions and imagination with the world. We use high quality texts to inspire the children. Our aim is for children to enjoy writing and to develop a range of writing styles so that they are able to write a range of genre.  We want children to use writing as a means of effectively communicating their feelings, ideas and opinions. They will understand that all writing has a specific purpose and audience. Children will be encouraged to make ambitious and deliberate word choices and develop the stamina and skills to write at length, with accurate spelling and punctuation and a fluent and legible, handwriting style. They are taught the correct use of grammar at each stage. Children are taught to edit and redraft their writing for a range of audiences.

English lessons will use a range of creative approaches to support the pupil’s understanding and exploration of the text, such as drama, hot-seating, story maps, speaking and listening tasks, visits to settings, illustration, debates or research.

In addition to these creative approaches, there is consistent teaching of the structure and features of different text types with a link to the grammar and punctuation needed to making their independent writing successful. This will involve looking at good examples of the text type, identifying the key features, creating toolkits for writing, teacher modelling and time to draft, edit and publish where appropriate.

English is both a subject in its own right and a medium for teaching. For children, understanding language will provide access to the whole curriculum.  We believe that fluency in the English language is an essential foundation for success in all subjects and our aim is ensure that all children can apply, practise and consolidate language and literacy skills in other subjects in a purposeful way.

Children’s command of vocabulary is key to their learning and progress across the whole curriculum. Teachers will therefore develop vocabulary actively, building systematically on children’s current knowledge. We believe it is particularly important to introduce children to subject specific language, such as accurate mathematical and scientific vocabulary.