Writing

Writing at KINS

Our writing curriculum is tightly focused and combines speaking and listening, knowledge of key vocabulary, spelling of HFW as well as clear progression of key skills. Our curriculum is designed to build on prior learning and make writing relevant to the age and stage of the children, their interests and the wider world, beginning with the prime areas of learning at EYFS.

Our children are taught how to write using talking (say a sentence, write the sentence) phonics, grammar, punctuation, sentence structures and enriching vocabulary. Teachers promote writing by enthusing about texts, modelling the process and looking for ways to inspire and motivate pupils so that they see themselves as ‘writers’.

Our writing stems from the use of highly quality texts, teachers use shared writing to engage the children in a collaborative process, providing a context for discussion and sharing what ‘best writing’ looks like ensuring that they write as a readers and read writers.

Handwriting at KINS

At Killamarsh Infant and Nursery School we teach children to write using a cursive font through the Letter Joins programme. By the end of KS1 children are taught how to join their letters neatly and accurately.

We aim for our children to develop a neat, legible, speedy handwriting style using continuous, cursive letters.

Year One:

Pupils should be taught to:

• sit correctly at a table, holding a pencil comfortably and correctly
• begin to form lower-case letters in the correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place
• form capital letters
• form digits 0-9
• understand which letters belong to which handwriting ‘families’ (ie letters that are formed in similar ways) and to practise these.

Year Two:

Pupils should be taught to:

• form lower-case letters of the correct size relative to one another
• start using some of the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters and understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left unjoined
• write capital letters and digits of the correct size, orientation and relationship to one another and to lower-case letters
• use spacing between words that reflects the size of the letters.