The teaching of writing at Great Kingshill is centred around a structured writing process, one which builds from teachers modelling examples of high standards of writing to the children, to the children themselves planning, drafting and editing their work so that it has a clear purpose and an impact on its audience.

Transcription is taught from Preschool onwards, ensuring that foundational skills for writing become automatic for our pupils as early as possible. Children in Key Stage 1 focus a great deal on orally rehearsing and discussing their sentences before writing as part of the writing process.

Handwriting lessons continue throughout the entirety of the school, and dedicated interventions are also made available to pupils. Early Years practitioners understand the importance of prioritising gross motor skills and developing arm and shoulder strength to prepare children for writing. They run weekly ‘squiggle while you wiggle’ sessions and targeted interventions for children who need additional support in developing these skills.

The importance of spelling is at the forefront of the English curriculum at GKCS, and to ensure continuity and progression of skills, our spelling scheme (Essential Spelling and Word Knowledge) directly follows the phonics scheme used throughout Key Stage 1. The spelling, punctuation and grammar requirements of the National Curriculum are taught through the writing process, and teachers use specific SPaG flashback starters in their lessons to target identified areas of need and essential grammatical knowledge for their year group as well.

Throughout the school, many pieces of writing are inspired by the high-quality range of fiction and non-fiction texts the children read in class, which have been carefully selected to expose the children to high levels of age-appropriate grammatical structures and vocabulary, and inspire them to become proficient and confident writers.