‘The school has well-developed a range of procedures for the assessment of writing which are applied consistently across the school.

Challenging, engaging and ambitious stimuli has led to a wide range of writing opportunities. Pupils’ absolute engagement with the ‘big questions’ that are put to them is clear in what they write. There is a lot of talk, drama and reflection throughout the writing process, which is evident in their ability to manipulate language to achieve specific effects. The use of real-life experiences, as well as a true purpose for writing has led to effective writing outcomes.

The proof-reading and editing of writing is a particular strength: pupils’ work is regularly shared using the visualiser and edited as a matter of daily practice. Pupils routinely share what is great and what needs attention, in equal measure.’   

Somerset Moderation KS2 June 2025

 

We endeavour to make writing a pleasurable process, where we celebrate and develop each pupil’s writing to the full as a tool for communication and for joy.

Writing lessons in our school are a key time to encourage children in becoming more powerful communicators through extending and enriching a child’s vocabulary, language structures, and reasoning. This should be not only in the rich linguistic context of the written word, but also in the read, heard and spoken word threaded through the lesson.

Our Guiding Principles:

  • Every child is treated as a writer and we have high expectations of each and every one of them.
  • We seek to encourage the writer in the reader, the reader in the writer: thus children will understand the social function of writing and how to create the form of writing most appropriate to their audience and task.
  • All children are made to feel independent writers and always remain within the writing community of the class team. We believe writing is a social act that builds where dialogic talk is important at all stages of the writing process. We cheer each other on.
  • We endeavour to ensure that all children truly care about the writing task as we believe that this gives rise to the best outcomes. All writing is purposeful and connected through our Big Question curriculum. Our children are motivated writers.
  • All writing should have an audience and writing has the intention of making that audience have a reaction: laughter, curiosity, excitement, passion, joy, resolve, action, sadness, to name but a few.
  • A writing task is extended over a series of lessons and a number of weeks. They feel pride throughout the journey and the completed task.
  • Every child is enabled to do their best, given the tools and strategies needed, expected to take care and time to make their written pieces the highest quality they can be for their future audience. Frequently throughout a writing project, we remind the children of the audience they are writing for and assess its effectiveness against that.
  • The whole writing community of the class are explicitly shown how writing can be made more effective through the editing process. We use a visualiser to share this. Writing tools that are taught must have their purpose and effect explained. Any ‘learning intention’ shared should relate to PURPOSE rather than CONTENT – why not what.
  • Children understand that the purpose of editing is to ensure and experiment with ways that their writing can better communicate with their audience.
  • It is made clear to children what they have expressed well and achieved. They are frequently praised so that all are sharing in the success of others and the appetites of all are whetted to achieve.
  • Children are given opportunity to share and discuss with others (including their teacher) their own and others’ writing in order to give and receive constructive criticism, writerly advice and celebrate achievement. We use editing partners and whole class editing using the visualiser.
  • Teachers model the writing and editing process in every lesson.
  • Talk is integral to all writing lessons and so are times of quiet creation and concentration.

The key principles and methods should be applied to the teaching of “Writing progression from Reception to Year 6” (see link below), which outlines the punctuation, vocabulary, grammar, modelled sentence structures and purposes for writing that form the basis of teaching in George, Bythesea, Ashe, Mill and Joyce. They are in essence drawn from Early Years Foundation Stage Framework and The National Curriculum.

Assessment

Formative
Formative assessment is the process by which teachers determine what a child understands.

Feedback closest to the point of action is the most powerful tool for positive impact on a child’s progress: this could be through discussion, time 1:1, or using ‘Everybody Pause!’ with a visualiser to share a child’s work to analyse where children’s learning is NOW and the next steps.

Next Steps and feedback written in a child’s book are a result of assessment of where the child is now and should enable that child to close a learning gap and so move their learning forward.
As a result of formative assessment, a teacher can adapt the learning in the next or future lessons.

Summative
A child’s attainment and progress in writing is assessed against national ARE at three assessment points in the year. We moderate our judgements between classes and year groups and the Trust as a whole.

Grammar

The purpose of teaching and learning of grammar is to ‘extend the meaning and effect of what we write and say; it gives us the words to talk about the choices we make when we communicate’ (Rebecca Lane, OUP).

Grammar makes sense of sentences. It also enables us, in this learning community, to use the same metalanguage for analysing and describing the parts of a sentence: hence the importance of building on this same language consistently and progressively throughout the school.

It enables the children to better analyse the meaning and intention of what they read and so, write.
Grammatical terms should be explicitly shown and taught with reference to function and the effect they have: this is best achieved in the context of a writing lesson.

The grammar taught in each class is detailed in “Writing progression from Reception to Year 6” – see link below.

Punctuation

Punctuation should be taught explicitly but within a meaningful writing context: children should be taught how a punctuation mark is a tool to give meaning, clarity, sense, structure and stress to their written words. It helps guide the reaction of a reader.

Spelling

The teaching and learning of spelling is embedded within the teaching of writing and taught explicitly and discreetly within the context of Sounds Write at reception and KS1 and our adapted Essential Spelling routines in KS2.

Handwriting

  • Develop a legible and fluent handwriting style so that they can communicate the craft of writing in the best possible way.
  • Adopt a strong core posture on a chair at a table for fine motor control.
  • Take pride in the beauty and presentation of work: know that their work has a wide audience they wish to captivate.
  • Teachers model the school handwriting style.

Writing progression from Reception to Year 6