Writing

“You can make anything by writing.”
C. S. Lewis

At Cavendish Church of England Primary School, we believe that writing matters because stories matter.

Children deserve to encounter rich literature, see different lives and experiences represented in books and develop the confidence to communicate their own ideas, experiences and imagination through writing.

Our writing curriculum is built around high-quality texts, rich vocabulary, purposeful talk and meaningful opportunities to write. We want children to become increasingly accurate, imaginative and confident writers who can write with stamina, control and an individual voice.

Writing reflects our school vision: We Learn. We Love. We Belong. Children learn the knowledge and techniques that enable them to communicate effectively; they explore the experiences and perspectives of others through literature; and they develop confidence that their own ideas and voices are worth expressing.

Our Writing Curriculum

We use Literacy Tree Writing Roots as the core stimulus for writing, carefully adapted to meet the needs of our mixed-age classes.

Texts are selected because they provide rich opportunities for children to develop vocabulary, explore ideas and write for meaningful purposes.

Writing does not begin with a blank page.

Children first spend time reading, talking, exploring vocabulary, discussing ideas and studying how language works. Teachers explicitly model sentence construction and build the language children need before asking them to write independently.

Our curriculum is deliberately structured so that children are supported to move from immersion and sentence-level control towards increasingly sustained and independent writing.

Our Mixed-Age Class Structure

Our writing curriculum is organised specifically around the mixed-age structure of Cavendish.

Robins – Reception, Year 1 and Year 2

Robins follow a three-year rolling programme: Cycles A, B and C.

The same core text is used across Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, but expectations are carefully adapted according to age and stage.

Reception children access texts through:

  • oral language;
  • storytelling and retelling;
  • provision;
  • role play;
  • mark-making; and
  • adult-supported writing.

Year 1 and Year 2 pupils work towards increasingly independent outcomes linked to their year-group expectations.

Our Robins curriculum deliberately revisits a manageable range of important writing purposes across the three-year cycle, including narrative and retelling, information writing, instructions, letters and messages, and poetry.

The first two weeks of Autumn 1, Spring 1 and Summer 1 are protected for the Trust shared book, providing an additional common literary experience.

Wrens – Year 3 and Year 4

Wrens follow a two-year rolling programme using carefully selected Literacy Tree Writing Roots.

Children encounter increasingly ambitious writing outcomes, including narrative, biography, diary, reports, instructions, explanation, persuasion, letters, poetry and writing in role.

The curriculum is designed so that pupils develop control over sentence construction, vocabulary, organisation and authorial choices while gradually becoming less dependent upon teacher support.

Our September 2026 cycle includes texts such as The Matchbox Diary, The Barnabus Project, Granny Came Here on the Empire Windrush, Frindleswylde, Weslandia and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Owls – Year 5 and Year 6

Owls also follow a two-year rolling programme, with increasingly ambitious expectations for independence, precision, structure and voice.

Pupils write across a wide range of purposes, including:

  • news and viewpoint writing;
  • debate and analytical writing;
  • persuasive writing;
  • diary and dialogue;
  • biography;
  • mystery and narrative;
  • formal letters;
  • reports; and
  • discussion texts.

Texts and outcomes require children increasingly to make deliberate choices about audience, purpose, organisation, vocabulary and effect.

Current Writing Roots include texts such as The Three Little Pigs Project, Rain Player, Hidden Figures, Rumaysa, Resist and High Rise Mystery.

Our Writing Sequence

We have a clear, consistent writing model across Cavendish.

Robins: Two-Week Writing Units

Writing units in Robins are usually taught over two weeks.

Week 1 – Immerse + Sentence Control
Children read, talk, explore the text, build vocabulary and practise constructing sentences.

Week 2 – Apply + Final Write + Improve
Children apply what they have learned to a purposeful writing outcome, before revisiting and improving their work.

This shorter sequence is developmentally appropriate for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 while still creating a clear journey from talk and language towards independent application.

Wrens and Owls: Three-Week Writing Units

In Key Stage 2, writing usually follows a three-week sequence.

Week 1 – Immerse + Sentence Control
Children read, discuss, build vocabulary, explore ideas and study sentence construction. We deliberately avoid asking for extended writing too early.

Week 2 – Build + First Write
Children build their understanding and complete a shorter first write or significant section. This acts as a checkpoint, allowing teachers to identify what needs further teaching.

Week 3 – Final Write + Improve
Children plan, draft, edit, proofread and complete a sustained final outcome.

This means children are not simply given a writing task and expected to perform. Knowledge, language and sentence control are taught first, then applied and refined over time.

Talk Before Writing

Purposeful talk is central to writing at Cavendish.

Children need opportunities to say, rehearse and refine ideas before they are expected to write them.

Through teacher modelling, discussion, drama, oral rehearsal, vocabulary exploration and collaborative talk, pupils develop the language they need to express increasingly complex ideas.

Talk enables children to:

  • explore a character or viewpoint;
  • rehearse vocabulary;
  • build sentences orally;
  • test ideas;
  • hear how language sounds;
  • justify choices; and
  • develop confidence before writing independently.

This is particularly important for younger pupils and children who need additional support with language.

Sentence Control

We believe secure writing depends upon secure sentences.

For this reason, Sentence Control is an explicit part of the first stage of every writing unit.

Teachers model how sentences are constructed and help children understand how grammar, punctuation and vocabulary work together to communicate meaning.

Children practise sentence structures purposefully before applying them within longer pieces.

As they progress through school, pupils are expected increasingly to make deliberate choices about sentence structure for clarity, emphasis, cohesion and effect.

Grammar is therefore taught as something that helps writers communicate, rather than as a collection of disconnected exercises.

Writing for Purpose and Audience

Children write best when they understand why they are writing and who they are writing for.

Our texts generate meaningful reasons to write.

Children may write to inform, persuade, entertain, explain, argue, describe, recount or communicate a particular viewpoint.

Across school, pupils encounter increasingly varied forms and audiences so that they learn that writing changes depending upon its purpose.

Rather than repeatedly producing the same genre, children learn to draw upon previously taught knowledge and adapt it to new contexts.

First Writes, Final Writes and Improvement

We want children to understand that effective writing is developed over time.

In Key Stage 2, the first write provides an important checkpoint. It gives pupils an opportunity to apply recent learning while allowing teachers to identify misconceptions, gaps or aspects that need further modelling.

The final outcome then allows children to apply that additional teaching with greater independence.

Children are taught that editing and proofreading are part of being a writer. They learn to reread, reconsider choices, correct errors and make purposeful improvements.

Our aim is not simply to produce polished pieces, but to develop children who increasingly understand how to improve their own writing.

High-Quality and Diverse Literature

The books we choose matter.

Our writing curriculum exposes children to a broad range of high-quality literature, including texts exploring identity, family, belonging, culture, displacement, courage, justice, responsibility, imagination and the natural world.

Children encounter authors, characters and perspectives that may reflect their own lives as well as experiences very different from their own.

We want literature to provide both mirrors and windows: opportunities for children to recognise themselves and opportunities to understand others.

Texts are selected first and foremost because they offer rich language, ideas and possibilities for excellent writing.

Through them, children develop curiosity, empathy and a growing understanding that writing can be used to tell stories, communicate ideas and influence how people see the world.

Writing and Reading

Reading and writing are closely connected at Cavendish, but they are deliberately taught with different purposes.

Our Literacy Tree Writing Root texts provide the central stimulus for writing.

In Wrens and Owls, Faster Read texts are selected separately where appropriate so that reading can develop stamina, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension without being restricted by the needs of the writing curriculum.

Children therefore benefit from a particularly rich diet of literature: texts they study as writers and ambitious books they experience as readers.

They learn to notice how authors use vocabulary, character, structure and viewpoint, then draw upon this growing literary knowledge when making decisions within their own writing.

Spelling and Transcription

Writing fluency also depends upon children becoming increasingly secure with spelling and transcription.

In Robins, phonics, spelling and transcription are developed through Little Wandle, including GPCs, tricky words, letter formation and common exception words.

From Year 3 onwards, No Nonsense Spelling provides our agreed spelling progression. Short, explicit teaching includes investigation, dictation, application and review.

Spelling is taught separately but must ultimately be applied accurately within children's independent writing.

We do not judge spelling progress through a weekly test alone. Children need to show that they can use what they have learned when composing and editing authentic writing.

The Cavendish 5 in Writing

As across our curriculum, the Cavendish 5 underpin high-quality writing teaching.

Retrieval
Children revisit vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, spelling and previous writing knowledge so that new learning builds securely upon what they already know.

I Do, We Do, You Do
Teachers explicitly model the thinking and choices involved in writing, construct examples with children and gradually move pupils towards independence.

Purposeful Practice
Children practise sentences, vocabulary, spelling and grammatical structures before applying them within sustained writing.

High-Quality Questioning
Teachers ask pupils to explain choices, consider alternatives, evaluate effectiveness and think about audience and purpose.

Feedback
Responsive feedback helps children address misconceptions, improve accuracy and make purposeful revisions while the writing process is still taking place.

Writing in the Early Years

Writing begins long before children produce a page of independent sentences.

In Reception, children develop the foundations for writing through:

  • rich conversation;
  • storytelling;
  • repeated language;
  • role play;
  • fine-motor development;
  • phonics;
  • mark-making;
  • drawing;
  • shared writing; and
  • meaningful opportunities to communicate through print.

Reception children access the same rich core texts as Year 1 and Year 2 but through developmentally appropriate experiences.

Adults model language and writing while ensuring children have opportunities to experiment, tell stories and see themselves as authors from the beginning.

Inclusion in Writing

Writing is ambitious for every child.

Teachers remove barriers through carefully sequenced modelling, oral rehearsal, vocabulary teaching, worked examples, sentence stems, visual prompts, additional practice and targeted adult support.

Scaffolds are designed to help children access the same important writing knowledge rather than replacing the intended learning with a less ambitious task.

Children may demonstrate understanding orally before writing and may receive additional support with transcription where this would otherwise prevent them from expressing their ideas.

As pupils become increasingly secure, support is reduced so that they take greater responsibility for planning, composing, rereading and improving their work.

Assessment in Writing

Assessment is embedded throughout the writing process.

Teachers use children's books, discussion, dictated sentences, sentence-level work, first writes and final outcomes to understand what pupils know and can apply.

The first write is particularly valuable because it helps teachers identify what pupils can currently do independently and therefore what needs to be revisited before the final outcome.

Assessment considers children's developing ability to:

  • communicate ideas clearly;
  • construct and control sentences;
  • select vocabulary;
  • organise writing effectively;
  • write appropriately for purpose and audience;
  • apply grammar and punctuation;
  • spell accurately;
  • sustain writing;
  • edit and proofread; and
  • make increasingly independent authorial choices.

We value the quality of children's thinking and writing, not simply the quantity they produce.

Writing and Our Christian Vision

Writing gives children a voice.

Through stories and texts, pupils encounter the experiences of people from different backgrounds, communities and cultures. They learn to consider viewpoints beyond their own and recognise the dignity and value of other people's stories.

They are also given opportunities to express their own identity, imagination, opinions and experiences.

This connects strongly with our Christian vision. We want every child to know that their voice matters while learning to use that voice with wisdom, compassion and responsibility.

Writing can entertain and delight, but it can also question, persuade, challenge injustice, share experiences and help us understand one another.

Through writing, children learn that words have power and purpose.

The Impact of Writing at Cavendish

By the time children leave Cavendish, we want them to be confident, accurate and increasingly independent writers.

They should be able to draw upon a secure understanding of sentence construction, vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and spelling and use this knowledge purposefully.

They should be able to write at increasing length and with stamina, make choices according to audience and purpose and reread and improve their own work.

Most importantly, we want pupils to understand that writing is more than completing an exercise.

It is a way to create, communicate, imagine, influence and make their voice heard.

We Learn. We Love. We Belong.

Writing/Reading/Spelling LTP