Writing at The Haven
At The Haven, we believe that writing is a powerful tool for self-expression, creativity, and communication. Our writing curriculum is designed to inspire every child to become a confident, articulate, and imaginative writer, equipped with the skills to thrive both in school and beyond.
Our Vision
Guided by our school motto, “Let Your Light Shine”, we place writing at the heart of our curriculum. We aim to nurture a love of writing in all children, helping them to develop strong oracy skills, a rich vocabulary, and the ability to write with clarity, purpose, and pride.
How We Teach Writing
Writing is taught through a carefully sequenced approach across all year groups:
Early Years (EYFS): Children begin their writing journey through daily phonics and Drawing Club, where imagination and mark-making are celebrated. They learn to construct sentences using capital letters, finger spaces, and full stops, supported by high-quality modelling and storytelling.
Years 1–6: Each writing unit follows a structured sequence:
- Oracy and idea generation
- Exploring model texts
- Grammar and language features
- Drafting and developing writing
- Editing and improving - Children are encouraged to write independently, collaborate with peers, and reflect on their work through green pen editing.
- Publishing final pieces - Published writing is proudly displayed and shared, giving real purpose to their efforts.
What Makes Writing at The Haven Special?
- Diverse and Inclusive Texts: We use a wide range of rich texts that reflect different cultures, voices, and genres to inspire writing.
- Oracy Development: Speaking and listening underpin our writing curriculum, with activities like debates, role play, and group discussions helping children to articulate their ideas.
- Greater Depth Writing: Pupils are supported to write with flair, originality, and sophistication, making conscious authorial choices and taking creative risks.
- Handwriting and Presentation: We use the Letter-join programme to develop fluent, legible, and neat handwriting, with high expectations for presentation across all subjects.
- Spelling Mastery: Spelling is taught systematically using Little Wandle and Spelling Shed, helping children to apply patterns and rules confidently in their writing.
- Adaptive Practice: Writing lessons are personalised to meet the needs of all learners, ensuring every child is challenged and supported to succeed.
To ensure our writing curriculum is effective and inclusive, we regularly monitor its impact through a range of strategies. These include analysing both statutory and internal assessment data, conducting book looks and learning walks, and moderating pupils’ work internally and with external partners. We track progress in reading, writing, and grammar at key assessment points, using this information to inform planning and identify any necessary interventions. Particular attention is given to supporting the lowest 20% of readers, with pupil progress meetings used to review data and plan next steps. This ongoing cycle of evaluation helps us to celebrate strengths, address gaps, and continuously refine our approach to writing across the school.
Writing Genre Progression
