Writing and Spelling

Writing 

Our writing curriculum aims to equip children with the skills and the confidence they need to effectively communicate their ideas.

Throughout the year, children at Bishop Wood write a variety of texts with distinct purposes, each chosen to link to themes in the curriculum. Children develop skills in storytelling, in explaining and describing and in using writing to be persuasive and make an argument.

Each writing project the children undertake follows a process from gathering inspiration and practising key skills, through drafting, revision and editing to publication. Children understand that they are writing for a reader, and enjoy sharing their finished work with others, both in and beyond school.

Principles of Writing Instruction at Bishop Wood

• Our writing curriculum supports the development of effective written communication skills.
• Children at our school see themselves as writers.
• Writing isn’t a competition; we make room for collaboration in writing.
• Writing is a process - we focus on the value of its stages, not just an end product.
• Writing is purposeful - each piece of writing needs to have a point and an intended reader.
• Oracy and spoken language form the foundation for written language.
• A conscious control of grammar and the transcription elements of writing (handwriting, spelling) are important for effective writing.
• Reading for pleasure is fuel for writing.

Spelling

At Bishop Wood, we want our children to be confident, accurate spellers. Spelling is one of the most difficult things we ask children to master in school. English is a rich, complex language, and we want our children to have as many words as possible at their disposal when they express their ideas in writing. 

If children can say a word, they can identify its sounds. We encourage the children to build links between each of those sounds (phonemes) and the various ways they can be represented by letters (graphemes). 

We investigate words.

In class, children look for patterns, similarities and exceptions in the words they encounter. They examine, sort and categorise words according to the spelling patterns they uncover. They frequently revisit sounds and patterns, practising them again and again.

We examine mistakes.

Children spend time looking at words and anticipating mistakes. We encourage children to identify the part of a word that is tricky and anticipate the ways its spelling might go wrong. This means children are thinking, not simply repeating. 85% of English spelling is predictable, and most children see they can already spell most of a word correctly. We draw the children’s attention to the parts that cause difficulties.