Feniscowles Primary School has created a curriculum intent statement.  This intent has been written to provide an overarching context for our school curriculum to allow ‘A Feniscowles Child’ to ‘Live Life in its fullest’.  This document can be found on our website and should be read in conjunction with our subject specific intent statements.

How does English writing contribute to our curriculum intent?

At Feniscowles Primary School, we aim for all pupils to become fluent, creative and technically skilled writers who have the knowledge and understanding required to adapt their writing to suit a range of different purposes and audiences. We want our learners to appreciate the importance of writing as an essential form of communication which builds on spoken language and what has been read. Through our logically sequenced and progressive English curriculum, we aim to develop a ‘Feniscowles Child who is highly literate with the oracy skills to communicate with confidence'

The overarching aim for English in the National Curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. The National Curriculum has provided us with a starting point for our Writing Curriculum. We have incorporated the National Curriculum aims of:

• Transcription (spelling and handwriting)
• Composition (articulating and structuring ideas in speech and writing)

The writing journey begins in EYFS where mark making and letter formation is supported. High-quality texts, which reflect children’s interests, spark a passion for writing and children begin to develop awareness of purpose and audience. Engaging the children’s interests and expanding their knowledge of the wider world continues to be an important element of the English curriculum from EYFS to Year 6.

As some of our pupils enter school with weakness in language acquisition, we place an emphasis upon vocabulary development. We want our learners to recognise how precise vocabulary enhances both the spoken and written word. Children are encouraged to apply vocabulary, which has been explored in reading lessons and other areas of the curriculum, within their writing.

We believe that writing outcomes are strengthened by instilling a love for reading in our pupils. Our children experience engaging encounters with carefully selected texts and speaking, listening, vocabulary and reading skills are progressively developed. This allows our learners to access the skills needed to write effectively and creatively within a meaningful context.

An important component of effective composition involves organising ideas coherently for the reader. We therefore aim to support all our pupils to have a clear awareness of purpose and audience when writing and to be technically accurate writers with a secure knowledge of grammar and punctuation. In order for our children to write fluently, they are taught to spell with accuracy through our effective phonics and spelling programmes. All learners are also taught a legible and, over time, speedy handwriting style.

We also recognise the value of making links to other areas of the curriculum, allowing pupils to practise and apply the skills, knowledge and understanding acquired through their English lessons.

At Feniscowles Primary School, we are committed to ‘Striving for Excellence’ and wish to instil this aspirational outlook within our children. We want pupils to see themselves as writers and support them to see writing as a journey which requires them to plan, edit and revise their writing.

Our English writing policy provides you with details on how we implement this intent through our curriculum.