At Ark Bentworth, we believe that a secure basis in writing is crucial to a high-quality education and will give our pupils the knowledge and skills they need to participate fully as a member of society.

The teaching of writing develops pupils’ competence in the two dimensions of:

• transcription (spelling and handwriting)
• composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing).

In the Early Years, pupils develop fine and gross motor skills needed for mark making and pencil control. Phonics and writing are closely linked as they learn correct letter formation and how to spell words using the sounds they know.

In Key Stage 1 and 2, pupils write for range of purposes and audiences, including poetry, fiction and non-fiction writing. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are taught in explicit weekly lessons as well as being embedded in the writing cycle. Pupils practise their handwriting in all lessons through ‘the line of expectation’ – a focus on handwriting and presentation that begins every lesson.

Pupils learn the process of writing from planning through to editing, evaluating and proofreading. This can then be transferred to writing across the curriculum. Each unit of writing includes opportunities for shared and independent writing. A focus on sentence level work though building and carefully constructing ideas is a feature of each unit. There are opportunities for pupils to publish their work at the end of each unit.