Writing
Writing
Our writing progression document is below. It highlights how writing is taught between years 3 to 6 and what skills are required and taught at each stage.
Writing is formally assessed at the end of Key Stage 2, in Year 6. The writing teacher assessment frameworks can be found here. Handwriting is very important and one of assessment criteria teachers assess against in Year 6. Below, you can find out how to get a pen licence at Coombe Hill Juniors.
Grammar
Grammar is taught within English lessons and the approach is little and often. Every child has a target sheet at the back of their English books which is used to provide a focus for a piece of writing. This is ticked off regularly by the teacher when there is evidence that children understand the concept and can use it independently in their writing. At the end of key stage 2, children's understanding of grammar is assessed.
Spelling
Most people read words more accurately than they spell them. The younger pupils are, the truer this is.
Word lists exist for Years 3 and 4 and Years 5 and 6; these are statutory. The lists are a mixture of words pupils frequently use in their writing and those which they often misspell. Some of the listed words may be thought of as quite challenging, but the 100 words in each list can easily be taught within the four years of key stage 2 alongside other words that teachers consider appropriate. We will be gradually teaching these words during school but also encourage children to practise them at home.
A link to the national curriculum spelling appendix which includes spelling lists for each year group is below.
Each week, the children will be taught a particular phoneme (sound), suffix or prefix. They will be given eight words to study and learn throughout the week and these will be posted in the Google Classroom, along with the rule for the set of words. These words might be revision words from previous years or completely new words. The lists of words often increase in difficulty so the children can focus on the first half of the list until they feel confident to learn the harder words. At school, we will be investigating patterns in these words and practising them daily. We encourage children to identify root words, break down longer words into their syllables and identify tricky parts of the word to help them to spell. We also use the Little Wandle 'Grow the Code' grapheme chart to support children in choosing the correct graphemes when spelling. This can also be found on the Google Classroom along with guidance for parents. The children will be tested on their word list in the form of dictated sentences, where we will also be awarding marks for correct spelling of high frequency words and accurate punctuation.