English Writing
English is the basis of all communication and is taught from Nursery through to Year 6.
At Meadhurst Primary School we deliver a daily English lesson of at least an hour which covers reading, phonics and spelling, grammar and writing. In addition to this, we have regular drama activities and opportunities for speaking and listening.
We plan our text-based English units of work from the No Nonsense Literacy resource, which immerses the children in a wide range of age appropriate and stimulating texts, both fiction and non-fiction. Our English teaching also utilises the Talk4Writing approach, from which the No Nonsense Literacy resources were developed. Children are inspired to write through role play and re-telling which enables all children to be confident in their writing. They are encouraged to challenge themselves by extending their vocabulary, using a variety of sentence structures and incorporating a range of punctuation. This supports their language and sentence structures, giving them a clear framework to hang their writing ideas from. Using this approach, writing is more successful because it is embedded in understanding a text from the start.
Handwriting skills are explicitly taught and built on each year. We use the Letterjoin script at Meadhurst Primary School. Pupils learn to use a tripod grip to support their pre-cursive handwriting in EYFS and Year 1, and begin to join their writing when they are ready. We follow the No Nonsense Spelling programme, in conjunction with teacher-planned grammar activities as part of English lessons, that deliver the skills essential for writing from Year 1 to Year 6.