Writing

At Bishops Waltham Infant School, we believe that children should develop the ability to communicate through written language in a lively, interesting and informative way. We use a variety of stimuli as well as different purposes and audiences, giving the children a reason to write based on their own needs.

In English lessons, we teach the children about a wide range of genres. The children learn about stories, poems and non-fiction writing. They have opportunities to write in these genres and will, for example, write stories, letters, diary entries, instructions and scripts. At our school, writing is always linked to our projects; making it fun and purposeful. Exciting activities called ‘hooks’ are planned for the beginning of the week to encourage enthusiasm about writing and to ensure the writing is relevant and purposeful. A hook could be anything! In the past, we have had dragon hunts, videos sent from The Three Little Pigs, pond dipping and much more!

Our assessment for learning ethos at Bishops Waltham Infant School encourages the children to try their best and to further their own learning.  The teachers mark in pink pen to show what they are “tickled pink” about.  This is often in the form of 2 stars. Teachers also mark using a green pen.  This is to highlight any areas that need improving, for example common except words that are incorrect or handwriting that could be joined. The children will edit their own writing throughout using a purple pen.

Spelling at Bishops Waltham Infant School

At Bishops Waltham Infant School, we have weekly spelling tests. The children take home spellings in their spelling book each week and are expected to practise spelling them at home. At school we will also be looking at these spellings and learning about how to spell them and why they are tricky. The children have access to these spellings on word mats on their tables and they are also displayed around the classroom. The children are encouraged to use these resources when they are writing to ensure they spell common exception words correctly.

Hampshire Assessment Model 

We use the Hampshire Assessment Model. The below links give you an overview of the different writing skills that are taught throughout Year 1 and Year 2.