Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.
Every class spends at least an hour a day focussed on writing skills. Often these lessons are linked to the topics in the International Primary Curriculum, however there is also a focus on teaching key skills such as grammar, punctuation, spelling and vocabulary. We do not tend to use traditional spelling tests as these have been shown to have little impact, we prefer to teach children how to spell in the context of their writing. Our literacy teaching is typically split into two or three week units, each focusing on a particular genre – persuasive writing, poetry, storytelling etc. At the end of each unit we complete an activity called Big Writing where the children are expected to write independently on an extended piece of work. This independent work is marked very closely by class teachers, providing next steps for each pupil.