Writing & Spelling

Intent

At Alston Lane, we strive to create a positive writing culture that inspires, motivates and equips all pupils to become skilled, fluent and confident writers. We believe that successful writing begins with strong foundations in spoken language; therefore, from Nursery onwards, children are immersed in high-quality interactions, stories, rhymes, songs and purposeful talk that develops vocabulary, language comprehension and an understanding of how language works. These early experiences ensure that children are Reception Ready and provide the foundations for future success as readers and writers.

Our writing curriculum is carefully sequenced so that pupils progressively develop the knowledge and skills required for effective written communication. We prioritise the explicit teaching of transcription, including handwriting and spelling, to ensure these skills become increasingly automatic and fluent. Alongside this, pupils develop sentence-level expertise through oral rehearsal, vocabulary development, grammar and punctuation, enabling them to communicate meaning clearly and effectively.

As pupils progress through the school, they learn to plan, compose, evaluate and refine their writing, adapting language, structure and style appropriately for a range of purposes, audiences and contexts. We have high expectations of all pupils and are committed to ensuring every child can write accurately, coherently and with increasing independence. We place great importance on presentation, spelling accuracy and fluent handwriting, recognising that when transcription skills become automatic, pupils can devote greater attention to generating, organising and improving their ideas.

Through a rich, knowledge-led curriculum, high-quality teaching and consistent opportunities to write across the curriculum, we aim for every pupil to leave Alston Lane as a confident, articulate and resilient writer, fully prepared for the next stage of their education and able to use writing as a powerful tool for learning, communication and self-expression.

Implementation

Handwriting

Throughout the Early Years Foundation Stage, teachers carefully plan activities which develop children’s physical development so they have the correct gross motor and fine motor skills to enable them to sit in a comfortable writing position, adopt the appropriate pencil grip and have the ability to control writing equipment with increasing precision.  To supplement this high-quality teaching, the Squiggle Programmes are used to help children develop the core physical foundations required for handwriting. Through engaging movement, music and mark-making activities, pupils strengthen their gross and fine motor skills, develop hand-eye coordination and build the muscle control needed for accurate letter formation. These experiences support children in becoming confident, fluent writers by ensuring they are physically prepared for the demands of handwriting.

Handwriting continues to be prioritised throughout Key Stages 1 and 2. In Year 1, pupils focus on developing correct letter formation and establishing a fluent pre-cursive script. During Years 2 and 3, explicit teaching ensures that pupils learn and apply all joins accurately and consistently. In Years 4 to 6, pupils build on these foundations through regular practice that develops handwriting fluency, automaticity and stamina, enabling them to record their ideas efficiently and focus their attention on composition, vocabulary and the craft of writing.

Spelling  

Early reading and writing are underpinned by high-quality phonics teaching from an early age.  At Alston Lane we follow the Red Rose Letters and Sounds systematic synthetic phonics programme starting when our children enter the nursery.  In Reception and Year 1, the explicit teaching of the reading and spelling of high frequency, tricky and common exception words are embedded into our daily teaching of phonics alongside the teaching of segmenting for encoding. In Year 2, the children move onto learning the National Curriculum spelling rules using the Red Rose Spelling Scheme.  This scheme builds on the children’s knowledge of phonics by developing their understanding of spelling rules progressively through to Year 6.  As a school, we have constructed a list of ‘Words for Life’ for each year group, comprising of high-frequency words and statutory common exception words that pupils are expected to spell accurately and automatically by the end of that academic year. These carefully sequenced words provide a secure foundation for spelling and support pupils in becoming fluent, confident writers.

English Lessons

At Alston Lane, we teach English through whole-class lessons so that all children have access to the age-related knowledge and skills stipulated in the National Curriculum. Our teachers are skilled in providing targeted support through scaffolding, additional modelling and carefully selected resources, such as word banks and phonics prompts, to ensure all pupils can achieve success. Our yearly curriculum overview has been designed to provide a balanced range of writing genres across each year group, whilst our progression documents ensure the systematic development of knowledge and skills from Nursery to Year 6.

We recognise the vital role of spoken language in the development of writing. Therefore, opportunities for oracy are carefully planned throughout English lessons, enabling pupils to discuss ideas, explore vocabulary, rehearse language and verbally construct sentences before writing. Through structured talk, partner discussion and oral rehearsal, pupils develop confidence in expressing their thoughts and become increasingly able to compose and refine sentences before recording them independently.

All units are based on high-quality, age-appropriate and vocabulary-rich texts that inspire and motivate children to write. Teachers expertly plan each English unit using a four-phase approach which helps children to widen their vocabulary, gather content, plan their ideas, write and edit their work.  Our English working walls showcase the learning journey undertaken throughout the unit and act as an ongoing resource to support pupils in composing their final written outcomes. Grammar and punctuation are taught in context and carefully matched to the genre being studied, allowing pupils to apply, practise and embed their learning in meaningful writing tasks.

Inclusion & SEND

Inclusion and adaptive practice are central to our writing curriculum. We are committed to ensuring that every pupil, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), can achieve success as a writer and access the full curriculum. Through early identification of need, precise assessment and a graduated approach to support, we adapt teaching so that barriers to learning are reduced while maintaining high expectations for all. Teachers use evidence-informed strategies, such as explicit modelling, scaffolding, vocabulary pre-teaching, visual supports, structured talk opportunities and assistive technologies where appropriate, enabling pupils to develop independence and confidence as writers. We recognise that pupils may take different pathways towards the same ambitious outcomes and ensure that all children experience success, make strong progress from their starting points and feel valued as members of an inclusive learning community. By fostering belonging, participation and achievement for every learner, we aim to ensure that all pupils develop the knowledge, skills and self-belief needed to communicate effectively through writing and thrive in the next stage of their education