Writing

Millbrook Combined School – Writing Curriculum Statement 2025 - 2026

Intent | Implementation | Impact

1. Intent:

At Millbrook Combined School, our writing curriculum begins in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), where children develop the foundations of communication, language, and early writing through purposeful play, high-quality talk, and opportunities for mark-making and storytelling. These early experiences build the essential skills of vocabulary, sentence formation, and fine motor control that underpin later writing success.

From this strong starting point, our Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 writing curriculum is underpinned by the Leading English writing programme. This carefully sequenced programme is fully aligned with the National Curriculum and designed to ensure every pupil becomes a confident, capable communicator who can express themselves clearly, creatively, and with purpose—both verbally and in writing—while developing a lifelong love of writing.

Aims:

We aim for all pupils to:

• Develop as confident, skilled writers who enjoy writing.
• Write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences, including expressing the Big Ideas through different text types.
• Acquire and apply a rich, ambitious vocabulary.
• Use accurate grammar, punctuation, and spelling (SPaG) consistently.
• Build independence in planning, drafting, revising, editing, and reflecting on their writing.
• Apply literacy skills across subjects and real-world contexts, linking writing to inquiry, creativity, and exploration of the Big Ideas.
• Make strong progress from starting points, supported through targeted scaffolds or interventions.

Core Principles:

Our English curriculum is designed to:

• Develop confident, skilled communicators.
• Follow a structured, progressive approach that builds on prior learning.
• Place strong emphasis on vocabulary acquisition and accurate spelling.
• Provide clear writing sequences and purposeful writing opportunities.
• Expose pupils to a wide range of high-quality model texts to inspire and inform their writing.
• Build a love for writing by making it accessible, engaging, and connected to Big Ideas and real-world contexts.

High-Quality Model Texts:

Model texts are central to every Leading English unit.

They:

• Demonstrate excellent writing across fiction and non-fiction genres.
• Showcase key writing devices, features, and techniques.
• Provide aspirational standards for pupils to emulate.
• Support pupils’ understanding of text types, purposes, and audiences.
• Enhance comprehension by helping pupils recognise structure, style, and language patterns.
• Support pupils in writing for specific audiences effectively.
• Guide teachers’ expectations of quality writing outcomes.

Vocabulary Development and Literacy Acquisition:

Vocabulary teaching is explicit and systematic.

In every unit, we:

• Teach vocabulary (Tier 2 and Tier 3 words) in knowledge-rich contexts.
• Build a robust language foundation for reading, writing, and oracy across all subjects.
• Teach statutory word lists to strengthen spelling and reading fluency.
• Revisit and embed vocabulary across units to ensure long-term retention.

Systematic Sequencing of Knowledge and Skills

Our writing curriculum follows a carefully planned, progressive sequence from EYFS to Year 6. It:

• Develops strong foundations in handwriting, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and composition.
• Provides clear writing sequences, including preparatory writing opportunities before final pieces.
• Ensures pupils are exposed to high-standard texts to set expectations for their own writing.
• Revisits and deepens prior learning to secure long-term understanding and transferable skills.
• Integrates opportunities to explore ideas through genre-specific writing tasks.

Knowledge-Rich Contexts and Cross-Curricular Links:

Each unit is designed around engaging, meaningful, real-world contexts that:

• Inspire curiosity and build cultural capital.
• Connect reading, writing, and spoken language.
• Encourage pupils to apply literacy skills to authentic, real-world communication.
• Allow pupils to reflect on and express ideas in a variety of subjects.

Assessment:

At the end of each writing unit, pupils complete a final independent piece of writing, which is assessed against the Teacher Assessment Frameworks (TAFs) for their year group. This process enables teachers to:

• Identify individual strengths and areas for development in writing.
• Inform subsequent teaching and planning, ensuring pupils receive targeted support and challenge.
• Track progress over time, monitoring whether pupils are on track to meet or exceed national curriculum expectations.
• To ensure accuracy and consistency of teacher judgments:
• In-school moderation takes place termly across year groups and key stages to secure consistent application of TAF criteria.
• Cluster moderation with partner schools and Local Authority (LA) moderation opportunities further validate teacher judgments and support professional dialogue.
• Outcomes from moderation inform staff development and feed into whole-school standards analysis.

EYFS: Early Writing Foundations:

Our EYFS writing curriculum aligns closely with the National Curriculum and the school’s wider English strategy, ensuring a smooth transition into Key Stage 1. It establishes the early foundations for confident, capable writers through a balance of supported and independent creative writing opportunities.

Children learn to communicate their ideas with increasing confidence and control through:

• Purposeful mark-making and early transcription practice.
• Daily opportunities for storytelling, role-play, and oral rehearsal.
• Exposure to high-quality texts that inspire vocabulary development and imagination.
• Use of The Poetry Basket to build rhythm, intonation, and a love of language.
• Regular opportunities for free writing—recording ideas independently in both play and outdoor learning contexts.
• Phonics teaching from Phases 1–4, focusing on sound awareness, blending, segmenting, and early decoding to prepare pupils for the Phonics/Spelling Shed programme in KS1.
• Writing and spoken language are linked to the curriculum wherever possible.

Pupils are assessed at regular points in the year, allowing teachers to identify whether they are new to English, developing early understanding, or working with a wide or fluent vocabulary range. Support is tailored through classroom strategies or targeted interventions to meet individual needs.

Focus areas include:

• Writing skills: text structure, sentence construction, word structure/language, punctuation, terminology, and handwriting/transcription—aligned with Early Learning Goals and preparing pupils for Year 1.
• Oracy: developing confidence in communication, following instructions, participating in discussions, asking and answering questions, using drama and performance, and building vocabulary and standard English.
• Reading: developing phonics knowledge, fluency, comprehension, and exposure to a wide range of genres and texts.

Home–school partnerships are central to success. Families engage through shared texts, home learning sheets, story videos, and activities such as storytelling, mark-making, and shared writing. These reinforce early literacy skills, promoting confidence and enjoyment of reading and writing beyond school.

Handwriting:

Pupils are taught handwriting through a progressive structure designed to develop fluent, legible, and consistent cursive handwriting across the school. The scheme builds from early fine and gross motor control in the EYFS to fluent cursive script by Upper Key Stage 2.

Teachers model handwriting explicitly, demonstrating correct letter formation, orientation, and spacing during daily lessons and across the wider curriculum. Handwriting is scaffolded carefully, with pupils receiving targeted support to refine posture, pencil grip, and writing stamina.

Consistency is reinforced through weekly practice sessions and the application of handwriting skills in all written work, promoting pride, presentation, and automaticity.

Spelling:

The spelling curriculum provides a systematic and structured approach to teaching spelling rules, patterns, and strategies, supporting pupils to spell independently and accurately. Millbrook Combined School uses the Spelling Shed curriculum, a progressive and phonics-aligned programme that reinforces sound–letter correspondences and spelling conventions.

The curriculum builds directly on EYFS and KS1 phonics knowledge, enabling pupils to apply their phonics understanding in both reading and writing. Spelling lessons include explicit teaching of rules and patterns, followed by at least two dedicated opportunities to practise each rule in class throughout the week, reinforcing retention and understanding. Pupils also receive related homework activities designed to consolidate learning and encourage parental engagement in spelling development.

Through consistent teaching, practice, and application across the curriculum, pupils develop confidence, accuracy, and independence in spelling. In Upper Key Stage 2 (UKS2), pupils have access to a personal spelling dictionary containing words they have spelt incorrectly, including common exception words and vocabulary targeted through class learning. Pupils are encouraged to refer to their dictionaries during independent writing, promoting self-correction and reinforcing understanding of spelling rules.

2. Implementation:

We implement our writing curriculum through a structured, consistent approach, ensuring all pupils make sustained progress over time.

Teaching Approach:

Each Leading English unit follows a step-by-step cycle:

• Introduction & Immersion – Explore model text, purpose, audience, and key vocabulary.
• Explicit Teaching – Teach SPaG and writing skills in meaningful, real-world contexts.
• Guided Practice – Shared/group writing to model and scaffold pupils’ writing.
• Independent Application – Pupils plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish a final piece.

Other features include:

• Modelled and Shared Writing: Teachers use an “I do – we do – you do” approach, explicitly demonstrating writing strategies before guiding pupils through shared writing tasks and gradually moving to independent application.
• Visual Support: Working walls, images, posters, and worked examples provide reference points that promote independence and support pupils in structuring their writing.
• Scaffolding: Word banks, sentence stems, writing frames, and fill-in-the-gap activities provide structured support, helping pupils gain confidence and successfully apply new skills.
• Guided and Independent Writing: Pupils write collaboratively in pairs or groups and independently, practising skills in varied contexts.
• Grammar, Spelling, and Vocabulary in Context: Key literacy skills are taught and applied in meaningful, authentic contexts across all units and subjects.
• Feedback: Teachers provide regular verbal and written feedback, including structured editing opportunities, encouraging pupils to review and improve their work.
• Drama and Oracy: Role-play, hot-seating, and discussion activities deepen understanding of texts, characters, and unit content, enhancing oral rehearsal and preparation for writing.
• Retrieval and Plenaries: Lessons begin with retrieval practice and conclude with plenaries, consolidating learning and reinforcing previously taught skills.
• Editing: Pupils edit their own writing in purple pen, developing self-assessment and reflective skills.
• ASPIRE Values: Units embed the school’s core values of perseverance, creativity, responsibility, and collaboration, fostering positive learning habits alongside writing development.
• Unit front pages: Each book has a unit front page that outlines what pupils are expected to achieve in that unit. Unit planning includes opportunities for pupils to achieve the greater depth standard alongside scaffolds and modelling to support pupils who are not yet achieving the expected standard.
• Differentiation: Pupils have writing differentiated for them based on their ability level. Medium-term planning for each unit outlines opportunities for pupils to achieve the greater depth standard, which teachers use to support and challenge these learners. Alongside this, teachers provide additional support for pupils who are not yet achieving the expected standard through scaffolding, modelling, and SEND support strategies. These include fill-in-the-gap activities, sentence starters, word mats, and cloze sentences. Such activities enable pupils requiring support to access the learning and achieve the lesson’s objective successfully.

Progression and Consistency:

• Whole-school progression map ensures age-appropriate skill development across year groups.
• Consistency across classes: Central planning ensures all pupils cover high-quality content.

Teacher Development:

• Professional Development (CPD): Regular training enhances teachers’ subject knowledge, pedagogical skills, and understanding of the writing curriculum.
• Working Group: Staff planning writing have opportunities to participate in workshops to discuss implementation, share best practice, and address challenges in teaching writing.
• Moderation: Internal and external moderation ensures consistency and accuracy in assessment.
• Coaching: Targeted coaching supports teachers in delivering high-quality writing instruction, embedding effective strategies in daily practice.
• Planning Support: Teachers receive structured guidance and resources to plan writing units effectively, ensuring lessons are sequenced, purposeful, and aligned with progression objectives.

3. Impact:

The impact of our writing curriculum is reflected in pupils’ confidence, creativity, and ability to communicate effectively in a range of contexts.

Pupil Outcomes:

• Meet or exceed age-related expectations in writing, students show progress from their starting points to support them to close the gap.
• Produce high-quality writing across fiction and non-fiction genres.
• Demonstrate independence in planning, drafting, revising, and editing.
• Take pride in their work and see themselves as authors.
• Develop confidence and a writing toolkit for creative and academic tasks.
• Feel prepared for secondary school literacy demands.

Staff Outcomes:

• Staff feel confident and skilled in teaching writing.
• Teaching is consistent across year groups, ensuring equity.
• High expectations drive improved pupil outcomes.

Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Final Pieces: Pupils’ independent writing is assessed against clear criteria aligned with curriculum expectations.
• Pupil Voice: Regular feedback from pupils ensures lessons are engaging and appropriately pitched.
• Staff Voice: Teacher feedback refines resources and delivery, promoting professional dialogue and continuous improvement.
• Learning Walks and Work Scrutinies: Regular reviews maintain high standards and curriculum fidelity.
• Coaching: Targeted coaching strengthens pedagogy and classroom practice.
• Data Analysis: Termly analysis identifies gaps, informs intervention, and ensures strong progress from starting points.

Celebration of Writing:

• Writing is showcased in classrooms, parent events, and online.
• Whole-school events (e.g. Poetry Day) and competitions reinforce pride and motivation .

Curriculum Review:

The writing curriculum is regularly reviewed to reflect:

• Staff and pupil feedback.
• Attainment and progress data.
• Best practice and curriculum developments

Through this cycle of teaching, reflection, assessment, celebration, and continuous improvement, Millbrook Combined School ensures every pupil develops the skills, confidence, and love of writing needed for success in school and beyond.