Writing

At St Mary Redcliffe Primary School, we believe that a rich and engaging English curriculum is fundamental to our pupils' success, both within our school and beyond. Rooted in our school's values of 'Hope, Empathy, Acceptance, Respect, Thankfulness, and Selflessness', our English curriculum aims to nurture a love of language and literature, empowering our pupils to become confident communicators and creative writers.

Content and Skills

Through our English curriculum, pupils will develop a secure understanding of the core components of language: phonics, grammar, punctuation, and spelling. They will learn to read fluently, with good comprehension and write with increasing complexity and accuracy. Pupils will also have opportunities to develop their oral communication skills, participating in discussions, presentations, and debates.

Wider Impact

The English curriculum at St Mary Redcliffe Primary School is central to our vision of developing well-rounded, engaged learners who are equipped to succeed in their next steps, whether that be in secondary education or in their future careers. By nurturing a love of language and literature, we aim to empower our pupils to become active, informed citizens who can navigate the world with confidence, empathy, and a strong sense of their own identity and values.

At St Mary Redcliffe, we believe that a rich and varied writing curriculum helps children develop both creativity and confidence in their literacy skills. In Early Years, we focus on ensuring we get the children off to the best start, and to give them the best chance of later success in writing, therefore the emphasis in reception is on strong foundations through building the foundations for it: transcription and oral composition. Mastering transcription prepares children to become writers. Learning to control a pencil to form letters, then words and then sentences means their minds are free to concentrate on the ideas they want to convey through transcription. We introduce regular explicit handwriting instruction, in addition to phonics, early in reception.

As the children begin to become confident and motivated writers children begin to explore a wide range of genres - from imaginative narratives and poetry to factual reports, persuasive writing, and diary entries. These genres are carefully matched to engaging texts and topics that inspire children to write with purpose. For example, younger children begin with simple sentence construction and storytelling based on familiar tales, while older pupils tackle more complex forms such as biographies, balanced arguments, and flashback narratives. Each year builds on the last, ensuring progression in vocabulary, grammar and composition skills. Our book choices are thoughtfully selected to support this journey, offering diverse themes and voices that spark curiosity and encourage thoughtful writing. 

At St Mary Redcliffe Primary, we believe that writing is a vital tool for communication, creativity and critical thinking. Our writing curriculum is designed to ensure that all pupils become confident, fluent and purposeful writers who can express themselves clearly and effectively for a variety of audiences and purposes using a range of genres. We aim for pupils to:  

• Develop strong transcriptional skills (spelling and handwriting) to support fluent composition.  

• Acquire a rich vocabulary. 

 • Develop a secure understanding of grammar and sentence structure. 

 • Write with increasing independence, creativity and control. 

 • Understand the purpose and audience of their writing and adapt their style accordingly. 

 • Build stamina and resilience in writing through regular practice and reflection.  

Key features of our implementation include: 

 • Explicit teaching of transcription and composition: Pupils receive direct instruction in spelling, handwriting, grammar and sentence construction, alongside opportunities to apply these skills in extended writing. Grammar skills are then revised d

 •  Teachers use the “I do, we do, you do” approach to scaffold learning and gradually release responsibility to pupils once the teacher has assured themselves the children are able to apply the skills they have been taught.  

 • Purposeful outcomes: Units of work are typically designed to last around 3 weeks. Over the course of the unit children are exposed to high quality models which are analysed to draw out the key features of the genre and relevant grammatical techniques. The unit culminates in a longer written outcome such as a letter, report, story or persuasive text.

 • Adaptation: Writing sequences and tasks are carefully scaffolded to ensure accessibility for all learners, with adaptations made to support individual needs. 

“Writing is not just a skill—it’s a complex craft. It must be taught explicitly, practised deliberately, and refined over time.” 

 — Alex Quigley, author of Closing the Writing Gap 

Each year group has a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) for writer that help teachers to keep track of children’s progress. 

What Are KPIs and Why Do We Use Them? 

KPIs are like stepping stones in your child’s writing journey. They: 

• Break writing into manageable steps, helping children build skills gradually. 

• Align with the National Curriculum, ensuring consistency across schools. 

• Help teachers plan lessons, track progress, and give targeted feedback. 

• Allow us to assess writing in real time, so we can adapt teaching to meet each child’s needs. 

How KPIs Support Learning in Each Year Group 

Early Years & Key Stage 1 (Reception to Year 2) 

In the early years, the focus is on transcriptional fluency – helping children learn to: 

• Form letters correctly. 

• Use phonics to spell words. 

• Write simple sentences with finger spaces, capital letters and full stops. 

Teachers use oral rehearsal, modelled writing, and dictation to support children. Writing tasks are carefully matched to their phonics level, so children can succeed and feel proud of their work. 

By the end of Year 2, children begin to write for different purposes – such as recounts, letters and poems – using basic grammar and punctuation. 

Key Stage 2 (Years 3 to 6) 

As children grow, the focus shifts to composition, grammar and cohesion. KPIs help children learn to: 

• Use a variety of sentence types. 

• Organise ideas into paragraphs. 

• Use fronted adverbials, conjunctions and punctuation accurately. 

• Edit and improve their writing for clarity and impact. 

Children are taught how to plan, draft, revise and publish their writing. They explore different genres and learn how to adapt their style for different audiences. 

Year 6:

In Year 6, writing KPIs are aligned with the Teacher Assessment Framework (TAF), which sets out what children need to achieve by the end of Key Stage 2.

Children must demonstrate that they can: 

• Write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences, selecting appropriate language and tone. 

• Describe settings, characters and atmosphere in narratives. 

• Integrate dialogue to convey character and advance the action. 

• Use a range of cohesive devices (e.g. conjunctions, adverbials, pronouns, synonyms) within and across paragraphs. 

• Use advanced punctuation such as inverted commas, colons, semi-colons, and hyphens. 

• Spell most words from the Year 5/6 statutory list correctly. 

• Maintain legibility in joined handwriting when writing at speed. 

These expectations are part of the statutory assessment process set out by the Department for Education and the Standards and Testing Agency. Teachers use a range of evidence from across the year to make final judgements, supported by moderation and exemplification materials.  

How KPIs Help Teachers Give Better Feedback 

KPIs are not just assessment tools—they’re teaching tools. They help teachers: 

• Identify specific areas for improvement in a child’s writing. 

• Give clear, focused feedback that children can act on. 

• Plan targeted interventions for children who need extra support. 

• Celebrate progress in small, meaningful steps. 

“Feedback is the most powerful when it is specific, actionable and focused on improvement—not just correction.” 

 — Alex Quigley 

You don’t need to be a writing expert to support your child. Here are some simple ways to help: 

• Talk about stories and books – ask questions and share opinions. 

• Encourage writing for fun – diaries, letters, lists or stories. 

• Celebrate effort and creativity

• Support spelling and handwriting – use school resources and phonics guides - Please feel free to download and print the handwriting sheets above.