Writing

In Te Waipuna, writing is where our ideas come to life! We believe that every child has a story to tell, and our writing time is all about giving them the tools and the confidence to share it.

What Writing Looks Like for Us

We follow a "Process" approach, which means we don't just write a story once and finish. We go through stages:

• The Spark: We use our experiences, our school grounds, and our favorite books to find "sparks" for our stories.

• Drafting: Getting those ideas down! We use our BSLA skills to help us sound out new words as we go.

• Polishing: We look back at our work to see if we can add "vocabulary words" or check if our sentences make sense for our readers.

Information for Whānau

You will see a mix of "invented spelling" and "dictionary spelling" in our books.

• Why? In Year 2 and 3, we want children to be brave with their words. If they only write words they can spell perfectly, their stories stay very small.

• Our Goal: We want them to use big, exciting words (like enormous or shimmering) even if they are still learning how to spell them!

• At Home: Ask your child to "read" their writing to you. Their pride in their own story is the best way to grow a writer.

Why we love Writing in Te Waipuna

Writing is our way of making our thoughts visible. Whether we are writing a recount of our weekend, a poem about the rain, or a set of instructions, we are learning that our words have power.