Supporting your child’s writing 6th – 10th November 2017

What the school is doing Read, Write Inc Book project Focus on extended writing Spending pupil premium funding to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils Making writing appealing to boys Early intervention

Read, Write Inc In Nursery, Reception and Y1 pupils follow the Read, Write Inc. programme There is a focus on phonics – children learn to sound out words in a structured way Fred talking Red words and green words. Green words are phonetically decodable; red words are not. For example, c-a-t is a green word and who is a red word.

How you can help at home Sound out words with your child. When sounding out words avoid using the “schwa” vowel at the end of each letter sound. For example, “c” should not be pronounced “cuh”. This is hard at first but you soon get used to it. Take a copy of the sound chart and speak to your child’s teacher about sounds they are learning at the moment.

The Book Project From Y2 onwards, writing is focused around “real” books. Your child’s class will generally cover around one book per half term (depending on the year group and length of text). Children are more motivated to write if they enjoy the text they are reading and there is a purpose to that writing. For example, a letter from one character to another.

How you can help at home Don’t read the book at home but read around it. For example, if your child’s class is studying “Matilda”, read a range of other books by Roald Dahl. Talk to your child about the book their class is reading. Ask them to recount the story, discuss their opinions about the plot and the characters.

Our focus on extended writing Extended writing should be independent. It can be in a variety of different genres, e.g. letter writing, narrative (story), play script, non-fiction, poetry, web content. This year extended writing is one of our key development points as a school. Extended writing opportunities are offered across the curriculum, not just in English lessons. High-quality extended writing is celebrated in our communal display next to Mr Williams’s office. This is changed every half term. Each child from Y1-Y6 will complete an independent project and present it to their class. There will be a prize for the best project in KS1 and KS2 at the end of the year. We will be introducing a school newspaper. Radio 2 “500 Words” competition.

How you can help at home Encourage your child to write – diary, thank you letters, shopping lists, stories Praise your child’s efforts – focus on the positive In early years practice forming letters in sand, shaving foam, cornflour, playdough

Use of Pupil Premium funding The school receives pupil premium funding for all children who are classed as disadvantaged. This doesn’t just mean their parents / carers are on benefits – your child may be entitled for a range of reasons. We will be spending some of this money to raise achievement in writing this year.

How you can help Register for pupil premium! The laptops are available this afternoon for you to register. If you register today you will receive a free school jumper / cardigan and tie – even if you are not successful!

Making writing appealing to boys Although some boys really enjoy reading and writing, some find it more difficult. We are looking at ways to make it more appealing for them. Comics and comic books Writing with a purpose (e.g. reports on school sports fixtures, pages for the web site) Themes – for example, in Reception, there is a car-themed writing box and a superhero-themed box Boys will be more engaged in writing if they also enjoy reading. We consider texts that our boys may find appealing.

How you can help at home Tell us what your child’s interests are and any books or authors they like. Support your child in their independent project – but don’t do it for them.

Early intervention We review children’s progress and achievement each half term and assign interventions where children are in danger of under-achieving. It is important that we pick up any issues early so that we can do something about them.

How you can help us Please let us know if you have any concerns about your child’s learning. Let us know if there have been any changes to your circumstances that might affect your child’s learning Tell us about your child’s interests, what you find works at home and what they struggle with

Read and write at every opportunity!