Writing at Longtown Primary School
At Longtown Primary School, we aim to develop confident, creative and enthusiastic writers who can communicate their ideas effectively for a range of purposes and audiences. We believe that high-quality texts are central to inspiring children to write, and our writing curriculum is carefully planned around a rich and varied selection of books.
From Year 1 through to Year 6, children encounter fiction, non-fiction and poetry and use these texts as a stimulus for their own writing. Our writing overview includes a diverse selection of engaging texts, ranging from Supertato and Lost and Found in Year 1 to Hidden Figures, The Boy at the Back of the Class, After the War and The Final Year in Years 5 and 6.
Children are given opportunities to write in a wide range of genres, including stories, character and setting descriptions, instructions, diaries, letters, biographies, newspaper reports, persuasive texts, non-chronological reports, poetry and speeches. As children progress through school, writing becomes increasingly sophisticated, with pupils applying their skills to extended narratives, formal writing, debates and discussion texts.
Our curriculum ensures that spelling, punctuation and grammar skills are taught progressively and applied purposefully within writing. Children begin by developing secure sentence construction, capital letters, punctuation and conjunctions before progressing to increasingly complex grammatical structures and vocabulary. By Year 6, pupils are confidently working with features such as active and passive voice, modal verbs, relative and subordinate clauses, semi-colons, colons, parenthesis and formal and informal language.
Most importantly, we want our children to see themselves as writers. We encourage them to be imaginative, ambitious with their vocabulary, take pride in their work and develop their own voice. Through carefully sequenced learning and inspiring texts, we aim to give every child the skills and confidence to write successfully across the curriculum and beyond primary school.
