Writing Key Skills
Below is our progression of writing key skills document.
This document outlines the writing key skills that are taught at each phase and year group.
Key learning skills for reading
Key learning skills for writing
Intent
At Christ the King, we want all our pupils to be capable readers, writers, spellers, and speakers, who can transfer their English skills to other curriculum subjects and who are prepared for the next steps in their education. We know the value of excellent vocabulary, and this is developed and practised across our curriculum constantly.
Our pupils are encouraged to read for pleasure and to read widely through our reading scheme, class reading areas and the school library.
We develop writing skills so that our children have the stamina and ability to write at the age expected standard. We also intend to create writers who can re-read, edit and improve their own writing, and enable pupils to be able to confidently use the essential skills of spelling, punctuation and grammar.
We promote the importance of written work by providing a writing purpose and opportunities for children’s writing to be displayed around school, read aloud and listened to by an audience. We intend that pupils learn how to understand the relationships between words, word meaning and implied meaning within writing lessons, whilst ensuring that children are supported in their spelling strategies.
Reading
Learning to read is one of the most important skills a child will learn at school. At Christ the King, we want children to have a passion for reading.
We want to develop enthusiastic and confident readers who read not only for information but also for enjoyment.
In school, reading opportunities are provided on a daily basis from guided reading, whole class reading and one to one reading. All children are given an individual reading book to take home to support their learning. Parents are actively encouraged to be involved in their child’s reading journey throughout their time at school and all children have a home school reading journal to ensure there is clear communication between home and school.
We take part in the Brilliant Book Awards in Year 2 and the Fantastic Book Awards in Year 5.
We have a whole school reading reward scheme to promote reading at home. Children are rewarded with certificates for every 25 reads they do at home, starting with the Amber Award for 25 reads up to the Diamond Award for 150 reads!
Children in KS1 are also given opportunities to take home a reading suitcase where they can sit and enjoy a story cuddled up with a teddy, blanket and a warm hot chocolate.
Class prayer bags are sent home every week to allow children to read their favourite Bible stories with their families and during Advent, children are able to read the Christmas story whilst setting up their very own Christmas nativity scene.
Teachers also provide book recommendations every half term linked to their English unit and other curriculum topics - these are outlined in the half termly learning letters that can be found on the class pages.
Examples of Writing Displays in School
English in Year 1
English in Year 2
During the Autumn term, we have looked at the book 'The Way Home for Wolf' and looked at non-fiction texts based on wolves and safari animals.
English in Year 3
During the Autumn term, we read Michael Bond's Paddington Bear. We learnt how to punctuate speech, practised our use of conjunctions and used prepositions.
English in Year 4
During Autumn 1, we learned lots of fascinating facts about the Loch Ness Monster and wrote our own magazine articles about it. After lots of speaking and listening activities and reading analysis, we gathered ideas for our own stories. The children developed their sentence level skills and included some dialogue in their stories.
English in Year 5 - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
During this unit, the children studied evacuation during World War II and engaged in a reading phase, short and longer writing opportunities including diaries, poetry and narrative writing. In the reading phase, the children took part in reading response and reading analysis lessons before gathering content for a final independent, extended write.
English in Year 6
In Autumn 1, we based our work on The Nowhere Emporium by Ross Mackenzie. This amazing story inspired us to write in a range of styles and for different audiences, and also helped us develop our grammar, punctuation and spelling skills, and our speaking and listening skills.
