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
Book Competition winners - Autumn 2024
Our school library transformation
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, one to one weekly reading to visits to the school library and a weekly STAR (Sit together and Read) session on a Friday morning, whereby parents and children are welcome to come into our school library and to quietly sit and read together.
We also have a Brilliant book awards and fantastic book awards club (FBA) for years 5 and 6.
Children in KS1 are also given opportunities to take home a reading suitcase where children 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 .
Structured reading schemes run throughout the school which aim to develop and extend children's reading at their individual levels. All children are given an individual login for active learn primary and 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.
Book recommendations
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.
During Autumn 2, we read ‘Rumaysa’ by Radiya Hafiza. We wrote our own stories based on this book. We developed our understanding of expanded noun phrases and revised the use of inverted commas. The children also started using adverbials in their sentences.
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.
For the second part of the Autumn Term, we looked at the classic novel by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. The unit began with a number of lessons to immerse the children within this wonderful piece of fiction. The unit had three parts, with oral or written outcomes and assessment opportunities at regular intervals. The final outcome was for the children to write their own story in the style of the author. Opportunities for short and extended writing were embedded within the unit along with daily grammar staters.
