The Writing 'Big Ideas'

The ‘Big Ideas’ relate to elements within a subject discipline or refer to important concepts that contribute to pupils’ personal and social development. It is essential that the ‘Big Ideas’ within each subject are understood by the children and become part of their common classroom language. In science, these 'Big Ideas' are:

• Accuracy
• Creativity
• Style

Year 6 have been using a variety of techniques to build suspense. Here is one that we are really proud of. Well done J.

Friday 25^th November 2022

LI: To use a variety of techniques to build suspense

Breathing heavily, my heart pounded - one false move and all could be lost. As I began to ascend the crumbling, mossy surface of what seemed like a high, impenetrable wall of rock, I began to smell the stale air and my head ached. The sky, a vibrant shade of azure blue, stood there, staring down at me, like a silent assassin, waiting for me to plummet to my fate.

I hesitated. I would have to muster all of my strength for the next kick; the closest ledge was at least two feet above me. Wedging my fingertips into the recesses of the rough, crumbling mountain face, I looked below – a vast, dense carpet of conifers lay 4000 feet below me. Would I make it?

Once more, I looked up to find that not only had I nearly reached the summit, but that a thick, grey carpet of clouds was forming above my head. I tried to call; nothing came out. Sweating profusely, I took three deep, heavy breaths, my conscience reassured me, and I proceeded with my climb, where I gripped the last crevice with ease, pushing myself up to the peak.

J

English for communication, consolidation and community

At Heatherlands Primary School, communication is at the heart of the curriculum. All children will be equipped with the skills they need to interact with the learning in all subjects, and to navigate their daily lives. Teaching and learning in English provides the bedrock for developing excellent communication skills: within spoken language, within reading and within writing.

We have a text-driven English curriculum, whereby high-quality texts support progress and outcomes in reading and writing. Children are encouraged to read widely; in the earlier stages to decode, and then to develop fluency and confidence, which in turn will build their comprehension skills. High quality literature sparks children’s imaginations and inspires high quality writing outcomes in each year group.

As the National Curriculum 2014 states, “Pupils’ acquisition and command of vocabulary are key to their learning and progress across the whole curriculum.” The school aims to cultivate a vocabulary-rich environment, as a means to helping all children develop their experience and understanding of the world.

Consolidation happens through regular opportunities for the children to put their learning in all areas of English into practice independently, not only within English but in foundation subjects too. These “sites of application” of learning provide robust opportunities for teachers to assess children’s performance.

Through the English curriculum, children consolidate the essential skills for effective communication and are thus equipped to become confident and eloquent members of the community, on a school level, a local level and a global level. They will be given the skills to take an active role in life as a British citizen.

English at Heatherlands

“You can make anything with writing” – CS Lewis

Situated in Library Road, it is no surprise that Heatherlands Primary School enjoys a rich and varied culture of reading! We have worked hard over the last eighteen months to develop the children’s love of books… this year, we are aiming to help the children to become assured and successful writers.

We are putting writing firmly at the heart of the classroom, with our new “See How Far We’ve Come!” displays in each classroom. These writing displays show off each child’s work at different stages of the year. Last week, the children all wrote about the same picture, and the work they produced is visible on the wall of every classroom, demonstrating clearly that we value and celebrate our children’s writing.

Ms J Evans

KS2 Assistant Head and English Lead

Writing

All of the children's English work is linked to a wide range of high quality texts by a range of classic and modern authors.

English national curriculum:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study

Handwriting

At Heatherlands Primary School we follow a pre-cursive handwriting scheme with lead in and lead out lines. Children are taught to begin joining their handwriting from Year 1. Children will begin to use handwriting pens from Year 4.

https://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/

Parent Workshops

Throughout the school year there are various phonics, reading and writing workshops available for you to attend. Details of these will be sent to you by letter.

Advice for  hearing your child read and spell:

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/welcome-back/for-home/reading-owl/top-tips--3