How is Writing taught at All Saints?
Our English Curriculum has been designed to create confident writers through the use of quality core texts and a structured approach to teaching the core skills. We have been fortunate enough to work closely with Newford Academy in Stoke on Trent to develop the teaching of writing across our school. Similarly to Newford, Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling at All Saints is taught in a structured, consistent manner; ensuring all learners retain the essential knowledge and skills they will need in their adult life. STEM sentences are used to ensure key grammatical terms are consistently taught and applied across the school. Daily Sentence Not Sentence sessions (SNS) ensures children revisit previously taught skills daily and teaches them to become excellent editors. The wider curriculum provides children with varied opportunities to apply the writing skills they have acquired and to use the rich vocabulary they have absorbed along the way. Letter formation and handwriting are taught both through discreet sessions and through regular modelling during SNS sessions. This ensures presentation standards remains high but also that the children maintain stamina when writing throughout.
Please find our English Long Term Planning below:
Our English Curriculum
How is Spelling taught at All Saints?
In the age of the computer, it could be asked whether or not it is still important to learn to spell. Good spelling and grammar make it easier for others to read what you have to say and understand the meaning behind it. One misspelt word or incorrect spelling choice can change the entire meaning of a sentence. At All Saints, we aim to teach spelling in a way that ensures children tackle new spellings with confidence and learn them for life.
Home Spelling Books and High Frequency Words
In partnership with home, we aim to enhance each child’s spelling through the teaching of spelling patterns in school and home spelling books containing the high frequency and ‘tricky’ words which don’t conform to a pattern.
At the start of each academic year, we will check your child’s spelling by retesting all words covered previously. This will enable us to effectively select an appropriate spelling book for them. Before a new spelling books is given, your child is likely to receive a blank book or sheet containing handwritten words. These words are personal to your child as they are those that were misspelt in their assessment. You may be surprised by some of the words on the list; these may include days of the week, proper nouns that require a capital letter or contracted words with an apostrophe. Please remember that your child will only have been given these words if they misspelt them and they will therefore need to learn them before moving on to a book from our scheme.
Learning Spellings at Home
Your child will need to bring their spelling book to school with them each day and we ask that they are kept inside their reading diary. The set of words your child needs to learn will be indicated by a highlighted tick and the boxes alongside the spellings should only be ticked or marked by your child’s teacher once they have been tested. Children should practise their spellings at home as often as they can, ideally as part of their daily reading routine.
Few children learn spellings by simply reading them aloud. Many children find it beneficial to look at the word closely, say it aloud, cover it and then write it down. It can also help to join the letters in the word as this helps to create a physical memory of it. In the front of each spelling book, you will find general tips and ideas for spelling practice at home. The books also contain more specific strategies for more complex words such as identifying the root word, breaking it down into syllables or using daft rhymes to make it memorable!
Testing Spellings in School
Within a two week period, your child will be individually tested on their highlighted set of words by either their teacher or a teaching assistant. Correct spellings will be ticked and incorrect ones will be dotted. Once all of the set has been written correctly, they will move on to the next set and therefore, dotted words should continue to be learnt until they are remembered. Sometimes a child will spell a word correctly at home and then incorrectly at school. It is important that spellings are remembered long-term before moving on to the next set and sufficient time should therefore be given to enable them to do this. Once they have completed their current set, their teacher will highlight the tick alongside the next ones that they need to learn.
