At High Ash School, every child is nurtured to become an empowered, confident and independent writer who can consistently write in grammatically correct sentences across the curriculum. English teaching is engaging, motivating and personalised, with writing taught through a structured, skills-based approach. Each unit follows a clear sequence: children read and evaluate diverse, ambitious and varied writing prompts, discuss a WAGOLL (‘What a good one looks like’), practise key skills through extensive teacher modelling with opportunities to embed their learning at every stage.  The work culminates in a final Star Write which showcases their learning and provides  recognition and a chance to celebrate 'Clever Writers' with a weekly certificate. 

Learning is supported through the I Am A Clever Writer approach, ensuring progression across the school and the use of checklists to layer and embed writing skills. Phonics strategies such as 'hold a sentence' support the children's ability to orally rehearse sentences before they write. Teachers build ‘working walls’ across the week with modelled examples, vocabulary, and checklists which pupils use in every lesson. We recognise that great writers are built on firm foundations. We are rigorous with the 'basics' so children are confident to then layer higher level skills into their writing.  Scaffolds and adaptations are included in every lesson to ensure all children are able to access and achieve the learning intention.

Children are encouraged to use ambitious vocabulary in both their oral and written work, they are given purposeful opportunities to write in a range of forms for different audiences, often linked to class topics and interests.

Handwriting

At High Ash we have high expectations for handwriting and presentation. We believe that developing a mature, speedy joined handwriting style  increases children’s motivation and their belief in themselves as writers. Writing involves many processes, so having fluent handwriting is one less thing to think about.

A holistic and consistent approach is applied to handwriting lessons, supported by the Letter Village Handwriting scheme provided by our Read, Write Inc provider.

Explicit handwriting lessons are taught regularly throughout the school year with targeted support available for children identified as needing additional repeated practice.