Creating and Embedding a Clear Intent for Writing

Our Writing Curriculum Map in the past has been a fixed journey through text types in each year group. We feel that the teaching of writing would be more effective if we focused our planning on the skills of being a writer more clearly, whilst ensuring that a range of text types are covered each year. Our relationship with HfL has lead us towards the Planning Platforms documents which identify key skills for learners to be taught in each year group. Combined with the HfL Back On Track planning, we have produced the following Curriculum Map and Writing Skills Progression document. 

This document also includes links to our sequential spelling and phonics map and the suggested texts which we would like each year group to cover. It should also allow teachers the freedom required to embrace the cross-curricular nature of the 'living curriculum' too. 

As the 'skills progression' document developed, it became clear that this could become a very concurrent document for a number of stakeholders. It seemed logical to us that if we're listing the skills into one place, we should include examples of 'age related' work there too to support with assessment. It also seemed logical to include the different work we're doing in supporting the top and bottom 20% children in our cohorts too. Thus the document has the potential to be a powerful resource for parents, teachers, governors and external visitors too. 

In producing the documents below, I referred to three questions indicated below which were highlighted by Ofsted in a February 2022 blog. 

• Does the subject curriculum match the scope and ambition of the national curriculum?

• Are there clear end points? Can we see how content is broken down into manageable chunks to build towards those end points?

• Are the identified chunks logically sequenced? Do they prepare pupils for the learning that is to come?