English Writing

At Ireby, we are dedicated to creating a loving community for all, where all are celebrated as unique individuals and where passions and talents can flourish. 

Our writing is a fundamental form of communication in our society. Enabling our children to write with confidence for a range of purposes and audiences is vital if they are to flourish and play an active role in our communities.  

‘In writing. Don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, “Please will you do my job for me.’

Handwriting at Ireby

Our teaching is grounded in one important principle: We always help children ‘visualise to memorise’. We use ‘picture hooks’ to help them build a picture of the letter or join before they write.

We never ask children to copy letters, joins or words. Copying results in children writing what they think they see – often starting in the wrong place or writing an approximation of the letter or join.

Our aim is to build children’s writing fluency and help all children enjoy putting pencil to paper!

We dedicate 15 minutes each day to teaching and practising our handwriting and use Ruth Miskin's Stage 1 - 4 to support our learning.

Spelling at Ireby

Once children in Year 1 graduate from our phonics programme, so we start to teach spelling using Ruth Miskin’s, Read, Write Inc Spelling.  This ensures a seamless progression from Early years to Key Stage 2.

Read Write Inc (RWI) Spelling is an interactive programme which teaches spellings in a fun and engaging way. Each unit is introduced with a short video. It helps children to learn spellings with common patterns and uses rules to help them recall spellings as well as teaching exceptions to these rules. The programme also has ‘special focuses’ which look at aspects such as homophones, apostrophes, word families and silent letters.  

We teach RWI Spelling for 15-20 minutes daily and there is a range of teacher-led activities, paired work and independent tasks.  Most weeks, classes will focus on a new spelling unit. Some weeks, classes may focus on special focuses or have consolidation sessions.  Children use a RWI Spelling Workbook in class alongside a spelling jotter (or workbook in Primary 4) which they will take home to complete homework tasks. 

Writing at Ireby

Our writing curriculum is designed to provide a broad and balanced education that meets the needs of all children. It provides opportunities for children to develop as independent, confident and successful writers, with high aspirations, who know how to make a positive contribution to their community and the wider society.

Our intent is for all pupils – irrespective of their needs, abilities or background – to learn to write fluently, developing their own writer’s voice.  We aim to meet, and where possible exceed, the expectations laid out in the Early Learning Goals and National Curriculum, with pupils progressing appropriately across school.

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