Writing curriculum 

At Cherry Hinton, writing about real experiences and for real purposes and audiences is an integral part of our curriculum. We have many trips and visits which can help build vocabulary and imagination to enhance a pupil's writing. We aim for pupils to develop a love of writing and to be able to express their thoughts and ideas clearly and creatively through the written word. Teachers make explicit links between reading and writing using quality texts, from a wide variety of genres, to inspire and motivate. Our pupils write to entertain, to inform and to persuade. They learn the essential skills of spelling, punctuation and grammar as laid out in the National Curriculum to enable the reader to understand their writing. Grammar is taught in context, embedded in our writing and reading lessons, and reinforced and modelled orally in everyday speaking throughout the school.

Pupils are proud of their writing and have the opportunity to see it on display and shared with others in the school and with their families. We aim for all Year 6 children to have made at least expected progress from their different starting points and as many as possible are at age-related expectation, ready for their secondary journey ahead.

Writing is taught following our Writing Journey sequence:

1. READ - All writing is inspired by a quality text, visit or cause and starts by identifying features in a specific genre using success criteria.
2. PLAN - Next, in the planning phase, children take part in spoken language, drama activities and to explore characters, settings and language to extend their understanding of vocabulary.
3. PRACTISE - They practise grammatical concepts in context and different sentence styles (Alan Peat) and the teacher models writing through shared writing sessions.
4. WRITE - Pupils then write a first draft using their notes, working wall and build up lessons.
5. EVALUATE - Pupils and teachers evaluate their writing on whether it meets the success criteria, achieves the purpose and is suitable for the proposed audience
6. REVISE and EDIT – Using the evaluation, pupils improve their writing content and check and change any spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.

Handwriting

We follow the Nelson Handwriting programme from Reception to Year 6. This structured scheme supports children in developing a clear, legible and fluent handwriting style that builds confidence and supports writing stamina. We place a strong emphasis on consistent modelling, regular practice, and pride in presentation across all year groups.

Spelling

In EYFS and Year 1 spelling is taught using the Little Wandle Phonics programme, where children learn how to segment words into phonetic sounds. https://www.littlewandle.org.uk/resources/for-parents/ Pupils in Year 2–6 pupils follow the No Nonsense Spelling. Each year group also has common exception words to learn as set out in the National Curriculum appendices, see below. Spelling and handwriting homework is set each week from year 1. Children are expected to learn the words sent home, write them in their best handwriting and return them to their teacher. 

Reading skills

See our reading and phonics page on the main menu

We have identified the key reading skills needed to be a successful reader.

These are:  DECODE    EXPLAIN    RETRIEVE    INTERPRET    COMMENT

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