Delivering Excellence in Writing

DELIVERING EXCELLENCE IN WRITING
Guidance Document

This guidance report was written by Jane Simpkins (Waterton Academy Trust)

The author was supported by an advisory group which consisted of:
David Dickinson (WatertonAcademy Trust), Linsey Cavell (Waterton Academy Trust),
Head Teachers’ Board (Waterton Academy Trust), Larraine Harrison (Waterton Academy Trust),
Darren Dickinson (Omnibus Educaton) and Jonathan Sharp (Doncaster Research School).

The guidance is based on a review of the statutory documents and research evidence below:
• National Curriculum in England: English Programmes of Study (DFE 2013)
• Preparing for Literacy (EEF 2018)
• Improving Literacy in KS1 (EEF 2020)
• Improving Literacy in KS2 (EEF 2017)
• Metacognition and Self-regulated Learning (EEF 2018)
• The Teaching Toolkit (EEF 2019)
• Writing in Primary School – What we know works (CLPE 2012)
• Understanding Spelling (CLPE 2018)
• What is the research evidence on writing? (DFE 2012)

The author would like to thank colleagues and practitioners from within and beyond the
Trust who provided support and feedback on drafts of this guidance.

Contents

4 FOREWORD

6 INTRODUCTION

7 ACTING ON GUIDANCE

8 SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS

10 RECOMMENDATION 1
PLANNING

12 RECOMMENDATION 2
COMPOSITION

14 RECOMMENDATION 3
TRANSCRIPTION

16 RECOMMENDATION 4
SPEAKING AND LISTENING

18 RECOMMENDATION 5
ASSESSMENT AND MODERATION

20 RECOMMENDATION 6
INTERVENTION

22 HOW WAS THIS GUIDANCE
COMPILED?

23 GLOSSARY

25 REFERENCES

Foreword

2

Research shows us that leaving school Our school improvement team has worked
with good educational qualifications is a tirelessly with colleagues from across the
prerequisite for progressing into quality education system to compile the
employment, apprenticeships, and recommendations contained within the
further education. documentation. I am confident that these
recommendations will help support the
The knowledge and skills that our young people development of provision across the trust and
acquire whilst at school are vital in order to that the documents themselves will be a catalyst
prepare them for a life of achievement and for a trust wide evidence-informed approach to
independence. However, although we are teaching. As an organisation, we will continue to
conscious of the importance of preparing our work with colleagues and partners and will be
children for success, too many do not achieve producing a range of supporting resources,
their full potential in terms of academic tools, and CPD to help you implement the
qualifications and as a result risk a life of social recommendations that we have put forward.
and economic exclusion.

As a trust, we believe developing quality first David Dickinson OBE
teaching through employing evidence-based Chief Executive Officer Waterton Academy Trust.
practice is the best way to ensure we provide
the finest possible education for the pupils in
our care. We are constantly reflecting on, and
refining our practice, in order to make the most
of pedagogical advances. However, as we know,
it can be difficult to know where to start.
There are thousands of studies and research
papers available to trusts and schools and we
are inundated with information about
programmes and training courses making claims
about impressive levels of impact.

The need to filter the plethora of information is
the reason why as a trust we have decided to
produce our own guidance documents. Each
document will offer practical, evidence-based
recommendations that can be applied across the
trust in ways that best suit the many different
contexts in which we operate. To compile these
recommendations, we have reviewed the latest
research and consulted with academics, teachers
and system leaders.

3

Introduction

What does this guidance cover? Who is this guidance for?

This guidance report focuses on the teaching of This guidance is aimed primarily at subject
writing to pupils from the early years to the end leaders, headteachers, and other staff with
of Key Stage 2. The decision to focus on these responsibility for leading improvements in the
Key Stages was made after an initial consultation teaching of writing in Waterton schools.
period with our school improvement team, Classroom teachers and teaching assistants will
teachers and members of the advisory group. also find this guidance useful as a resource to aid
their day-today teaching.
This report is not intended to provide a
comprehensive guide to the teaching of writing. It may also be used by:
We have made recommendations where there
;are research findings that schools can use to • governors to support and challenge school staff;
make a significant difference to pupils’ learning,
and have focused on the areas that appear to be • parents to support their child’s learning;
most relevant to practitioners. There are aspects
of the teaching of writing not covered by this • school improvement professionals to inform
guidance. In these situations, teachers must draw professional development for teachers and
on their knowledge of writing, professional interventions for pupils;
experience and judgement, and assessment of
their pupils’ knowledge and understanding.

The focus is on improving the quality of teaching.
Excellent teaching of writing requires good
content knowledge, but this is not sufficient.
Excellent teachers also know the ways in which
pupils learn to write and the difficulties they are
likely to encounter, and how writing can be most
effectively taught.

4

Acting on the guidance

We recognise that the effective 1 - Continuing Professional Development (CPD) 3 - It is important to consider the precise detail
implementation of these recommendations - will be an important component of provided beneath the headline
such that they make a real impact on children implementation and is key to raising the recommendations. Schools must consider
- is both critical and challenging. quality of teaching and teacher knowledge. As carefully if they have the capacity and
a trust we will be providing professional resources to effectively implement the
There are several key principles to consider when development for all our schools and this will recommendations.
acting on this guidance. be aligned to the guidance provided by the
Teacher Development Trust. 4 - Inevitably, change takes time, and we
recommend taking at least two terms to plan,
2 - These recommendations do not provide a ‘one develop, and pilot strategies on a small scale
size fits all’ solution. It is important to consider before rolling out new practices across the
the delicate balance between implementing school. Gather support for change across
the recommendations faithfully and applying the school and set aside regular time
them appropriately in a school’s particular throughout the year to focus on this project
context. Implementing the recommendations and review progress.
effectively will therefore require careful
consideration of context as well as sound
professional judgement.

IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS BEGINS

Treat scale-up as a new Identify a key priority that is
implementation process amenable to change

Continuously acknowledge Systematically explore
support and reward good programmes or practices
implementation practices to implement

Plan for sustaining and Examine the fit and
scaling the intervention feasibility with the
from the outset school context

STABLE USE SUSTAIN EXPLORE ADOPTION
OF APPROACH DELIVER PREPARE DECISION

Use implementation data Develop a clear, logical
to drive faithful adoption and well specified plan
and intelligent adaption
NOT READY
Reinforce initial training - ADAPT PLAN
with follow-on support
within the school Assess the readiness of
the school to deliver the
Support staff and solve implementation plan
problems using a flexible
leadership approach READY

Prepare practically e.g.
train staff, develop
infrastructure

DELIVERY BEGINS

Figure 1:
Implementation can be described as a series of stages relating to thinking about, preparing for, delivering, and sustaining change.
Education Endowment Foundation (2019) Putting Evidence to Work: A School’s Guide to Implementation

5

SUMMERY OF 12
RECOMENDATIONS

PLANNING COMPOSITION

Make careful and Use a Teaching Sequence
deliberate considerations to support Writing
for the planning of Composition
writing

• Successful planning for • Effective composition
writing is an on-going cycle involves articulating and
where teacher knowledge is communicating ideas, and
applied and adapted. then organising them
coherently for a reader.
• Writing should be linked to
reading and, wherever • Writing Composition is a
possible, linked to the wider process made up of a
curriculum (topic). sequence of steps – Teaching
Sequence.
• Well-chosen texts should
provide rich language models • It should be thought of as
and structures. being split into three
over-arching sections:
• Teachers must know the text dissecting, building and
they are teaching before they producing. Each made up of
start to plan. several components.

• The planning process must • Dissecting is made up of
start with the end product scrutinizing reading, exploring
including purpose and vocabulary and language
audience, skills required and models and through high
links to the National quality modelling.
Curriculum (NC).
• Building incorporates an
• Purpose and audience make increasingly wide knowledge
writing meaningful and and understanding of
enhance motivation. grammar & punctuation, the
planning stage and high
• There are four main quality modelling.
purposes of writing: to
entertain, to inform, to • Producing is the writing itself.
persuade, and to discuss. It is a series of components
made up of independent
• Other memorable writing (first draft),
experiences such as trips, proofreading, editing,
visitors and special events can redrafting, publishing and
create purpose for writing. presenting.

• Skills that are required for • The explicit teaching,
different text types need to be modelling, practicing and
determined at the beginning feedback forms the core of
of planning. writing composition teaching.

• Skills need to match the
requirements from the NC.

8-9 10 - 11

6

3 4 56

TRANSCRIPTION SPEAKING AND ASSESSMENT INTERVENTION
LISTENING AND MODERATION
Develop fluency of Use high-quality
handwriting, spelling Integrate speaking and Develop accurate structured interventions
and sentence listening into the writing assessment and to help pupils who are
construction process moderation processes struggling with their
writing

• Fluency of writing is • Speaking and Listening are at • There are 3 main forms of • For pupils struggling,
developed through the the heart of language, and assessment: Day-to-day high-quality, structured,
correct formation of underpin the development of formative, in-school targeted interventions are
handwriting, the effective and reading and writing. summative and national necessary for them to make
accurate use of spelling and statutory summative. expected progress.
understanding of sentence • Teachers should ensure the
construction. continual development of • Assessment should be used to • Monitoring and diagnostic
pupils’ confidence and supplement professional assessment identify the
• Pupils must develop their competence in spoken judgements. specific nature of difficulty in
fluency in these skills to the language and listening skills. order to match to appropriate
point that they have become • The collection of evidence intervention.
automated. • Speaking and Listening should needs to be purposeful.
be carefully planned and • Teaches need to adapt their
• Handwriting and spelling must integrated in the teaching • Evidence should come from approaches in order to
be taught explicitly through sequence. day-to-day work from a provide support.
extensive practice that is variety of sources. The
supported by effective • Pupils must develop evidence must support • It is essential that the
feedback. capabilities to formulate and judgements being made. appropriate support offered
articulate increasingly matches the specific difficulty.
• Published pieces of writing sophisticated sentences • Day-to-day formative
provide strong incentive for before expressing in writing. assessment is most effective • Targeted intervention must be
pupils to apply high quality through feedback. delivered by trained adults in
handwriting. • Teachers should pose a structured setting with high
challenging questions than • In-school summative quality support.
• There are a variety of prompt dialogue and scaffold assessments come at the end
approaches in learning productive ‘explanatory’ talk of a period of teaching. • The smaller the group, the
spellings. Teachers should to improve pupil’s learning. greater the impact –
consider the appropriate • Pupils’ writing, on which one-to-one wherever
strategy for each skill. • Drama offers a range of teachers base their possible.
contexts, audiences and judgements, must be
• Spelling errors should be purposes for speaking and produced independently • Writing interventions will
analysed so that specific listening within the writing mainly focus on handwriting,
support is provided. teaching sequence. • At the end of each key stage, spelling and sentence
teachers make a judgement composition.
• Teaching spelling should be • Drama can be taught either as for writing against the
related to content and actively a context for learning or as an statutory Teacher Assessment • Explicit teaching, extensive
used writing. art form. Frameworks (TAFs). practice and opportunities to
apply to class work are
• Pupils should practise • Drama has strong links to the • Moderation allows teachers to fundamental to making
sentence combining and other development of language. benchmark judgements, while progress.
sentence construction ensuring consistent standards
techniques. and reliable outcomes.

• There are 2 forms of
moderation: internal and
external.

12 - 13 14 - 15 16 - 17 18 - 19

7

1 1

PLANNING

Make careful and deliberate considerations for the planning of writing

Successful learning relies on careful and Anchoring writing tasks and questions to reading Knowing the text
deliberate considerations of the writing evens the playing field for students who may ‘Teaching knowledge is a matter of equity’³
process. This should be reflected in planning. have limited personal experiences to draw on.
Pupils discover rich experiences within the texts It is fundamental that teachers know the text
In the same way that we would teach our children they are exposed to: building knowledge through they are teaching. Prior knowledge of content
to become self-regulated learners, who are aware reading, using evidence in their writing that can (e.g. direction of plot, characters, settings,
of their strengths and weaknesses, and can only be found in the text, and learning academic important facts/ information) vocabulary and
motivate themselves to engage in, and improve vocabulary found in those very texts. structure is vital for high-quality teaching and is
their learning, we ourselves must do the same essential in guiding pupils in their learning.
when planning for writing. By grounding discussion and writing tasks in the
text itself, all pupils are given equal opportunities ’Staff need a good knowledge of books to help
Good practice means we approach any learning to learn and engage. Reading and writing become them meet the different demands of the school
task or opportunity with some metacognitive a shared experience in learning about any topic. curriculum’⁵
knowledge about: Approaching writing instruction in this way also
• our own abilities and attitudes (knowledge of boosts reading comprehension. Cognitive science A number of studies have found a relationship
shows that we understand and remember the between measures of a teacher’s knowledge of
ourselves as a learner); things we pay attention to and think about the content they are teaching and the gains made
• what strategies are effective and available deeply. When pupils write about what they have by their students. It seems intuitively obvious
learned from texts, using specific information that ‘Teachers cannot help children learn things
(knowledge of strategies); and and vocabulary, they better understand and they themselves do not understand’⁶
• the particular type of activity (knowledge of retain the new content.³
PLANNING
the task). To become a skilled writer, pupils need to draw on When planning for writing, teachers should first
what they read and make choices about how to think about the end product: what piece of
When undertaking a learning task, we start with use what is read in writing. This makes our role in writing will the pupils finish up with?
this knowledge, then apply and adapt it. This is encouraging and offering some guidance in book
metacognitive regulation. It is about planning choices absolutely crucial as well as how core Griffiths & Burns (2014) state that starting with the
how to undertake a task, monitoring the strategy texts are used in learning sequences.⁴ end in mind supports teachers to avoid making
and checking progress, then evaluating the assumptions and brings real clarity of the
overall success. This is not a one-off process of Choice of text destination for both the teacher and the children:
discrete steps, but an ongoing cycle of plan, there is no confusion over the expectations or
monitor, evaluate alongside the different aspects A well-chosen text provides rich language models quality of work and motivation is increased.⁷
of metacognitive knowledge (learner, strategies, and structures from which pupils can learn how
and task).¹ writing works and the effect it can have on a Teachers need to consider 3 main starting points:
reader. • Purpose and audience
These are the approaches that teachers need • Skills required
to be adopting when planning, teaching and Careful consideration of text must be of highest • Links to the National Curriculum
assessing writing. importance when planning for writing. Not only
should the text be rich in vocabulary, and enable Purpose and audience
WHERE TO START? pupils to comprehend beyond their own reading Consideration of purpose and audience is vital
fluency level, but, wherever possible, should link for effective writing. Like adults, pupils need to
Links to reading to the wider curriculum or topic work. have a reason to write and someone to write for
Wherever possible, writing should be linked to thus enhancing motivation.⁸
reading. However, other stimuli (hooks) can School leaders should ensure there is a
include video clips, school visits, visitor in school, well-planned overview of varied and well-chosen
and special-events in school or in the texts for each year group over the year.
community.² The collaboration between schools is supporting
the development of the Trust’s core lists of
quality texts.

8

1

Creating opportunities for writing inspired by Skills required EVIDENCE SUMMARY
meaningful events, experiences in texts, drama Teachers need to determine which skills and
and real life, provides the pupils with ways in to techniques are required for writing effectively for • Linking writing to reading enables all
talking and writing about their own feelings, different purposes. pupils to discover rich experiences;
experiences and interests and demands their building knowledge and learning
active and critical engagement with the process. Pupils need to learn the features and conventions academic vocabulary found in those
With purpose in mind, they begin to think about of different text types as well as grammar, texts.
their audience and adapt their tone accordingly. punctuation and vocabulary that support
Examples such as book reviews for authors; a successful writing. Exposure to a rich range of • Teaching knowledge is a matter of
letter to a character; a graphic novel for a child; these and identification of key features will equity – taking ownership.
or a report to the community. support this.⁹
• A number of studies have found a
Through purposeful opportunities and reasons Studies show young children benefit from explicit relationship between measures of a
to write, children are able to develop authentic teaching about the structure of narrative and teacher’s knowledge of the content
personal voice, style, stamina and range as a expository (explanation or description) texts. they are teaching and the gains made
writer. They enjoy writing expressively, Providing pupils with models of simple structures by their students.
imaginatively and informatively for purpose – for different types of text, supports this.¹⁰
they will become authors. • Consideration of purpose and
Links to the National Curriculum audience is vital for effective writing
There are four main purposes of writing: to The skills need to match with what is required and enhance motivation.
entertain (e.g. describe, narrate), to inform, to by the National Curriculum for each specific
persuade, and to discuss. year group.

These should be part of a whole school approach Teachers should know and build on work from
that progressively builds up from sequencing previous year objectives.
sentences to form short narratives and personal
experiences to using the full range by the end ‘Pupils should build on what they have been
of KS2. taught to expand the range of their writing and
the variety of the grammar they use.’¹¹
Memorable experiences, such as trips out of
the school or visitors to the school, can help To enable pupils to become confident young
to create a purpose for writing. It is important writers, teachers need to read aloud and share
that pupils learn to modify their writing high quality texts across a range of text types,
according to the audience for whom they are reflecting a range of writing styles. When children
writing, which includes selecting an appropriate have explored a range of texts types, they form
form or text type. an understanding and appreciation of how
language functions and how best to use this
when writing themselves.¹²·¹³

9

2 2

WRITING COMPOSITION

Use a Teaching Sequence to support Writing Composition

Effective composition involves articulating • Vocabulary - A well-chosen text with a bank of • Planning – Planning should ensure that children
and communicating ideas, and then rich vocabulary will increase and enhance are fully prepared with all the ‘tools’ they need
organising them coherently for a reader. This pupils’ language skills ready for writing. to start writing independently.
requires clarity, awareness of the audience, The dissection of a text enables the exploration We should not underestimate how much time
purpose and context, and an increasingly of language choices with opportunities to and resource will be required to plan
wide knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. confidently experiment with new words and successfully.⁴ How pupils plan for their writing
how to use them and familiar words in new needs careful consideration as to whether it is
Writing is a process made up of different contexts.³ As vocabulary increases, teachers whole class, shared, guided or individual. Oral
components that form the Teaching Sequence. should ensure the understanding of rehearsal is essential for allowing pupils to think
Each component is a series of actions that writers relationships between words, nuances in of and organise their ideas. An example of this
use to achieve their goals. Over time, pupils meaning, and ability to use figurative language.¹ is the use of ‘Talk for Writing’.
should take increasing responsibility for owning Modelling creates clear strategies such as
the sequence.¹·² • Language Models – For our pupils to become checking for sense, reorganising a sentence,
outstanding writers they need to see improving on or disregarding ideas. As planning
The sequence should be thought of as being split outstanding writing that models what they are progresses through the year groups, the written
into three over-arching sections: dissecting, working towards e.g. models of excellence from form allows for the setting of goals, the
building and producing. previous cohorts. They set the standard for the generation of ideas and the inclusion of
quality of work needed in order to achieve the structure, vocabulary and grammar.
DISSECTING lesson objective. It is recommended that
teachers write their own WAGOLLs (What A • Modelling / Shared / Guided – Modelling
Once you have planned (See Recommendation 1 Good One Looks Like) so that they develop writing is vital for pupils to understand how to
Planning) for the writing, the next stage is to deeper understanding of the structures, skills craft their ideas in to a series of cohesive
‘dissect’. This is done through collaboration with and processes required and can also sentences. Shared writing allows teachers to
pupils in scrutinising reading, exploring personalise it to a specific text or class or ‘think-aloud’ and share their thought process
vocabulary and language models and through pupils’ needs. for each strategy with pupils. Guided writing
high quality modelling. Examples include: involves a teacher working with a small group of
BUILDING learners on a writing task. These should be
• Links to Reading – Reading delivers a greater temporary and teach strategies that pupils
sense of engagement - the ‘doorway’ opens to The ‘building’ section incorporates an increasingly most need to practise with immediate guidance
the multitude of opportunities for purposeful wide knowledge and understanding of grammar from a teacher.⁷·⁸
writing. Using what is read is vital to writing & punctuation, the planning stage and high
composition. Through reading comprehension, quality modelling. PRODUCING
a greater understanding of the content and, in
narrative, character and plot is developed. • Skills – Grammar & Punctuation – The final section of the Teaching Sequence is the
The purpose becomes more meaningful when The explicit teaching of grammar and writing itself. It is a series of components made
pupils are invested in the text. punctuation extends pupils’ range of linguistic up of independent writing (first draft),
structures, builds confidence and develops proofreading, editing, redrafting, publishing
versatility in language use.⁵ Pupils need to and presenting.
understand how Grammar & Punctuation
enhances the writing and the impact they have. • Independent Writing - Pupils need to be given
The aim is for them to increase the fluency of the time to focus and to get their ideas written
these skills and techniques so that they become down as a first draft. Independent writing can
automatic. The teacher should provide be supported by clear learning objectives,
appropriate initial support that is gradually limited success criteria and classroom
reduced so the child is ultimately capable of resources, however, these should not be
completing the activity independently.⁶ over-detailed and not over-aid pupils.⁹

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2

• Proofreading, Editing & Redrafting – • Publishing / Presenting – Publishing is EVIDENCE SUMMARY
Proofreading is the process of finding and presenting the work so that others can read it.
correcting mistakes in a text.⁹ This process This may not be the outcome for all pieces of • Evidence states that the use of
(such as reading aloud) needs clear teaching writing, but when used appropriately it can structured planning templates,
and modelling until pupils do this provide a strong incentive for pupils to produce teacher modelling, worked examples,
independently.⁶ Editing is making changes to high-quality writing and encourage them in and breaking down activities into
ensure the text is accurate and coherent. particular to carefully revise and edit.³ How steps can help the development of
At this stage, spelling and grammar assume much of and why the work is published should self-regulated learning and
greater importance and pupils will need to be considered. It might include the whole piece metacognition.⁴
recognise that their work will need to be or sections and it might be to display work,
accurate if readers are to engage with it and present to other classes, or send copies to • Consideration of purpose and
extract the intended information from it.³ parents and carers. Presenting requires pupils audience is vital for effective writing.
Redrafting – sometimes referred to as revising – to participate in presentations, performing their Pupils need to have a reason to write
is making changes to the content of writing in own compositions with increasing intonation, and someone to write for. Linking
light of feedback and self-evaluation to improve volume and movement.¹ reading to writing allows pupils to
its effectiveness. This might include pupils learn the features and conventions of
making improvements in sentence structure different text types. Exposure to a rich
incorporating a particular skill or thinking of range and identification of their key
synonyms for repeated words.³ features will support this.³

• The purpose of modelling is to help
novice pupils become more capable of
learning independently and thinking
metacognitively. The modelling
process involves teachers making
gradual changes in support. Practice
and independent work help to
develop cognitive and metacognitive
knowledge. Over time, such thinking
becomes habitual – acting as ‘internal
scaffolding’ that will support future
learning. ⁴

11

3 3

WRITING TRANSCRIPTION

Develop fluency of handwriting, spelling and sentence construction

Transcription refers to the physical processes There is no quick way to develop these essential It is likely to work best when the spellings are
of handwriting or typing, spelling and skills other than through regular and substantial related to the current content being studied in
sentence construction. For our younger practice. school and when teachers encourage active use
pupils, writing is physically and intellectually Practice should be: of any new spellings in pupils’ writing.
demanding. It is essential that pupils become • Extensive – a large amount of regular practice
fluent with their transcriptional skills. Children learning to spell is closely related to
is required to achieve fluency. their learning to read and their understanding
Handwriting, spelling and sentence construction • Supported by effective feedback – children about how spoken language is written down.
should not hinder the composition of writing. If
children have to concentrate to ensure their will practise effectively when this is provided. Phonics provides a foundation for effective
transcription is accurate, they will be less able to Feedback should: spelling but it is not the only skill needed. There
think about the content of their writing. Through • be specific, accurate, and clear. should be the continuation of teaching
extensive practice that is supported by effective • compare what a pupil is doing right now with Grapheme Phoneme Correspondences (GPCs),
feedback, pupils must develop to a point where teaching word patterns and morphemes,
fluency becomes automated.¹·² what they have done wrong before. (prefixes, suffixes, and root words) showing how
• encourage and support further effort. they recur in different words.¹·²
HANDWRITING • be given sparingly so that it is meaningful.
Writing depends on fluent, legible and, eventually, • provide specific guidance on how to improve Research shows that children take different
speedy handwriting. This must be explicitly routes into the spelling system, some favouring
taught. rather than just telling pupils when they are phonetic spellings and some visually based
incorrect.¹ spellings. They do not follow a linear stage-based
Accurate letter formation is an essential early skill route. All children need to integrate different
that forms the basis of a fluent handwriting style. Within the composition of writing, there is the sources of knowledge – phonetic, visual,
It is also important to focus on the speed of opportunity for pupils to publish and present structural and semantic – to develop effectively
pupils’ writing as well as the accuracy. Slow or their work so that others can read it. It can as spellers.⁶
effortful transcription hinders writing provide a strong incentive for pupils to apply
composition.³ high-quality handwriting resulting in a sense of In learning spelling, children need to be helped
pride and achievement. from the outset to draw on multiple sources of
Up to 30% of children may experience knowledge e.g. known words, common letter
handwriting difficulties, so it is important to Although explicitly taught, handwriting directly strings, word structures and meanings. Other
carefully monitor and plan appropriate support supports the composition of writing in another approaches include paired learning and the use
and intervention. It is also challenging for way: a cognitive benefit. of techniques such as ‘look, say, cover, write,
children to unlearn poor habits, so dealing with ‘Handwriting reinforces our reading and language check’. Teachers should be aware of the other
handwriting issues early is likely to be more processing skills. Writing by hand allows time to strategies that good spellers use, and must teach
effective than later intervention.⁴ slow down the thought process enabling the writer these strategies directly.
to think about the words, how they are spelt and
the structure of the writing; all making the writer These include:
more adept at the language they are using.’ ⁵
• a phonic approach – segmenting the word into
SPELLING its separate sounds and representing the
Accurate spelling is a key component of writing sounds with graphemes. (See Delivering
fluency and should be explicitly taught rather Excellence in Reading – Recommendation 3)
than simply tested. The teaching of spelling needs
to be done in a constructive way developing an • analogy - spelling it like other known words;
attention to words and their structures.⁶
• identifying the syllables – learning in
manageable ‘chunks’;

12

3

• identifying the ‘tricky’ parts of words so that To improve spelling, children need to develop an EVIDENCE SUMMARY
these can be learned - many of the most independency of correcting their own misspelt
common words in English are ‘tricky’ or have words. This can be achieved through effective • A fluent writing style supports
unusual /rare GPCs; miscue analysis as part of marking and feedback composition because pupils’ cognitive
and having high expectations that changes are resources are freed from focusing on
• a visual approach - writing the word in two or made correctly. This should be done in these aspects and can be redirected
three different ways and deciding which looks timetabled sessions. towards writing composition.
right: and
SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION • Extensive practice, supported by
• etymology - exploring the relationship between It is important to develop and monitor children’s effective feedback, is required to
meaning and spelling by looking at the origin capability to formulate and articulate increasingly develop fluent transcription skills.
and history of the word sophisticated sentences and express them
in writing. • Up to 30% of children may experience
By analysing the types of spelling errors pupils handwriting difficulties, so it is
make, it is possible to provide support specific to Sentence construction can be developed through important to carefully monitor and
their needs. These include: activities like sentence-combining where simple plan appropriate support and
sentences are combined so that varied and more intervention
Phonological errors are not phonologically complex multi-clause sentences are produced.
plausible, e.g. ‘frist’ for ‘first’ or ‘gaj’ for ‘garage’. • There is limited high quality evidence
Strategies: Speaking and listening activities can support about how to teach spelling, but it is
pupils to practise sentence construction for clear that spelling should be actively
• Explicit teaching of consonant and vowel effective writing. Writing requires the taught rather than simply tested.
phonemes. consideration of purpose and audience, and the
co-ordination of meaning, form, and structure. • By analysing the types of spelling
• Practise sounding phonemes all the way Teachers should instruct pupils to verbally errors pupils make it is possible to
through words. articulate their ideas while explaining sentences provide support specific to their
and demonstrating how to construct them.⁷ needs.
• Focus on identification of common digraphs
in words. • Research shows that with much
practice of sentence combining the
Orthographical errors are phonologically act of writing composition becomes
plausible, but inaccurate, e.g.‘gud’ for ‘good’ or much more fluent.⁷
‘carm’ for ‘calm’.
Strategies:

• Look at patterns of letters and syllables within
words..

• Encourage automatic recognition of whole
words in conjunction with an emphasis on
careful decoding and encoding.

Morphological errors are due to a lack of
awareness of morphemes, e.g. ‘trapt’ for
‘trapped’; ‘realshun’ for ‘relation’; ‘ekscuse’
for ‘excuse’.
Strategies:

• Focus on prefixes, suffixes and root words and
learn common rules.¹·²

13

4 4

SPEAKING & LISTENING

Integrate speaking and listening into the writing process

Speaking and listening are at the heart of As pupils enter Key Stage 1 and continue through This can be achieved through speaking and
language, and underpin the development of Key Stage 2, a focus on developing oral language listening activities including sharing ideas, drafts,
reading and writing. skills continues to be of importance. Overall, evaluating and checking against writing goals.
studies of oral language interventions This supports pupils to be aware of their
The quality and variety of language that pupils consistently show positive impact on learning. On strengths and weaknesses, and can motivate
hear and speak are vital for extending their average, pupils who participate in oral language themselves to engage in, and improve, their
vocabulary and grammar and their interventions make approximately five months' learning.
understanding for reading and writing. Teachers additional progress over the course of a year.³
should ensure the continual development of Evidence suggests that the quality of language
pupils’ confidence and competence in spoken Writing requires the consideration of purpose and communication approaches is more
language and listening skills. and audience, and the organisation of meaning, important than the quantity. Furthermore, all
form, and structure. The co-ordination of these children are likely to benefit from a focus on
This includes pupils developing: concepts is a complex, yet essential, skill that can communication and language but some studies
• an increasing capacity to explain their be practised through purposeful speaking and show even larger effects for children from
listening activities for writing. disadvantaged backgrounds.²
understanding of books and other reading, and
to prepare their ideas before they write; For developing writers it is helpful for these Teachers and teaching assistants are essential
concepts to be explored through talk in a role models and need to adapt their speech to
• making their thinking clear to themselves as well supportive learning context. This involves suit the context of the setting. They need to be
as to others; externalising and sharing the thinking involved in clear about the difference between accent and
the writing process so that ultimately it can be dialect and also acknowledge the local dialect
• secure foundations by using discussion to probe internalised and individualised again.⁴ For and Standard English as equal partners, so that
and remedy their misconceptions; and example, developing writers should verbally children are able to access both forms of
articulate their ideas through the structure of language where appropriate: Standard English for
• an understanding and use of the conventions ‘Think, Say, Write, Check’. writing and formal situations; dialect for less
for discussion and debate.¹ formal such as within dialogue and role play.⁶·⁷·⁸
As pupils become experienced writers, many of
Opportunities for speaking and listening should these processes are internal and automatic. For
be carefully planned and integrated within the example, they can hold an internal dialogue with
Teaching Sequence for writing. themselves about the language choices available
(See Recommendation 2 Composition) and consider how effective a particular word or
phrase will be or how well it reads.
Focusing on language and communication is
especially important for young children and will Pupils need to be taught metacognitive strategies
support the development of a range of early that help to monitor and control their cognition
literacy skills. of writing.²

Effective writing is strengthened by their To promote and develop metacognitive talk in the
expressive language capabilities. Teachers must classroom, teachers and teaching assistants
ensure they develop pupils’ capabilities to must ask challenging questions. They should
formulate and articulate increasingly guide pupils with oral feedback, prompting
sophisticated sentences before expressing them dialogue, and scaffold productive ‘exploratory’
in writing. They should have a broad range of talk where appropriate. It is an ideal way to share
opportunities to develop their expressive and develop effective learning- getting pupils to
language. Activities might include storytelling, listen actively and respond.⁵
group reading, or role play.²

14

4

The important role of Drama in Speaking Drama also enables children to experience Clarification of terms:
and Listening aspects of learning on an emotional level but with Speaking: being able to speak clearly
the added safeguard that it is pretend. It allows and to develop and sustain ideas in talk;
Drama is primarily about making meaning pupils to see events from a different viewpoint Listening: developing active listening
through the enactment of events. It involves and write in an authentic voice. In role, children strategies and critical skills of analysis;
agreeing to behave as if you were some-one else, can often access feelings and language that are Group discussion and interaction:
something else or somewhere else. Whether it is not available to them when they write as taking different roles in groups, making
used as a tool for learning across the curriculum themselves.⁹ a range of contributions and working
or as an art form in its own right, drama has a collaboratively.¹⁰
strong relationship with language development. Drama strategies
From structured role play in EYFS, to playmaking EVIDENCE SUMMARY
and the utilising of complex drama techniques at The choice of drama strategies will depend upon
KS2, drama offers a range of contexts, audiences the desired learning objectives. These objectives • Communication and language provide
and purposes for speaking and listening within can range from creating a context, audience and the foundations for learning and
the writing teaching sequence. purpose for specific literacy skills, to creating an thinking and underpin the
opportunity for children to make decisions in the development of later literacy skills.
It is possible to divide drama into two types: organisation of their own learning.
The choice of strategies will also depend on the • Speaking and listening activities can
• Drama as a context for learning. experience and confidence of the teacher. Using support pupils to practise essential
drama for learning is an ongoing process, ranging skills for effective writing.
• Drama as an art form. from simple one-off strategies in the classroom
to using teacher-in-role within whole group • Evidence suggests that the quality of
They have different objectives but both have scenarios over a longer period. Some examples language and communication
potential for the development of language. include: whole group drama, teacher-in-role, approaches is more important than
freeze frames, conscience alley, forum theatre, the quantity.
Drama as a context for learning meetings, hot seating and flashbacks/forward.
• Drama can provide pupils with a
Using drama as a context for learning is more Drama as an art form meaningful purpose for writing.
akin to learning through imagined experience,
where the learning outcome, rather than the end Children should have the opportunity to • Drama supports the exploration of
result is the main objective. It can be a powerful experience a theatrical performance and be real and fictional situations through
and effective way to teach many different aspects encouraged to respond thoughtfully. They should talk or role-play.⁸
of the curriculum, especially writing. also be given opportunities to improvise, devise
and script drama for one another and for a range • Good use of drama sessions can also
Drama offers children an opportunity to of audiences, as well as rehearse, refine, share lead to an improvement of children’s
construct and then deconstruct; to experience and respond thoughtfully to their performances. vocabulary and expression.¹¹
both subjective and objective levels of
understanding. It is in the skills of construction
and deconstruction that progression in drama
can lead to a development of critical analysis
and the capacity to transfer these critical
processes to a range of texts. In this respect
drama is unique.

15

55

ASSESSMENT AND MODERATION

Develop accurate assessment and moderation processes to inform teaching and support pupils’ needs.

ASSESSEMENT 1. Day-to-day formative assessment • To give feedback sparingly so that it is
Day-to-day assessment of writing is a tool which meaningful; and
There are 3 main forms of assessment: enables teachers to find out the following things
1 - Day-to-day formative assessment – about their pupils: • To provide specific guidance on how to
improve rather than just telling pupils when
to inform teaching on an ongoing basis. • Their starting points for learning they are incorrect.⁵
2 - In-school summative assessment – • If they have understood and can apply learning
• The progress they have made Pupils take pleasure in a reader’s feedback and
to understand pupil performance at the end • Their next steps of learning begin to link writing with communication. It is
of a period of teaching. Evidence should come from day-to-day work in important for teachers to validate children’s
3 - National statutory summative assessment – the classroom and can be drawn from a variety of writing with appropriate response, focusing first
to understand pupil performance in relation to sources. The only requirement is that evidence on the effect the writing has on the reader.⁶
national expectations and comparisons. supports the judgement being made. The type of
evidence will vary from school to school, class to Teachers should continually adapt their teaching
Assessment should be used to supplement, not class, and even pupil to pupil. A pupil’s work in using Information from assessment so it builds
replace, professional judgement about a child’s books will often have all the evidence a teacher on pupils’ existing knowledge, addresses their
current capabilities and the best next steps. It needs, but evidence might come from a number weaknesses, and focuses on the next steps that
should be purposeful, specific and not time of potential additional sources such as other they need in order to make progress.
consuming: teachers’ efforts should be focused curriculum work, assessment notes, classroom
on teaching.¹·² tests and assessments.¹·² Providing pupils with timely feedback and helping
them to plan, monitor, and evaluate their
Collecting evidence with purpose Effective Feedback progress – forms the basis for successful,
Before collecting information, it is critical to plan independent learning.⁷
why it is needed. Clarity of purpose is a hallmark Day-to-day formative assessment is most
of effective assessment. What, when and how effective through feedback. 2. In-school summative assessment
evidence is collected requires considerable In-school summative assessments come at the
thought. It can save time by avoiding the Studies typically show very high effects on end of a period of teaching. Within the teaching
collection of unnecessary information – this is learning where there are approaches that sequence for writing, this would be the
especially important with younger children.³ explicitly redirect or refocus either the teacher’s assessment of the end product; finished piece of
or the learner’s actions to achieve a goal, by writing.
The value of evidence aligning effort and activity with an outcome. A
While the teacher’s knowledge of pupils can recent meta-analysis of the impact of formative Pupils’ writing, on which teachers base their
inform judgements, these must be based on assessment on writing indicates gains of 8 judgements, must be produced independently by
sound and demonstrable evidence. This ensures months’ progress are achievable.⁴ the pupil.
that judgements are as objective as possible, and
consistent between classes and schools. Specific For it to be effective, it is important to consider (Classification of Independent Writing can be
evidence does not need to be produced. What carefully how feedback is given. found at Standards & Teaching Agency - Key
pupils can do should be evident in their work. stage 1 & 2 teacher assessment guidance: For
The following characteristics must be schools and local authorities (2019) Pg.15/16)¹·²
considered for it to be effective:
Teachers should keep in mind that the national
• To be specific, accurate, and clear; curriculum states writing can also be produced
• To compare what a pupil is doing right now with through discussion with the teacher and peers.
This is particularly true at KS1, where discussion
what they have done wrong before and oral rehearsal with teachers will feature more.
(E.g. ‘You use of speech marks is much more
accurate than before’); When assessing finished pieces of writing, the key
focus must be on composition and effect and
• To encourage and support further effort by whether the pupils have written ‘effectively’ for a
helping pupils identify things that are hard range of purposes and audiences.
and require extra effort (E.g. ‘You need to The grammatical structures and features that are
put extra effort into your editing to improve
your spelling’);

16

5

taught, specifically at each stage, are precisely for MODER ATION EVIDENCE SUMMARY
that purpose; to create impact for particular
purposes and audiences. When teachers assess Moderation can be described as a dialogue • Clarity of purpose is a hallmark of
writing they must ascertain whether the between two or more teachers, and between effective assessment.
grammar, vocabulary and punctuation has been teachers and other professionals. The aim is to
used purposefully, appropriately and effectively make judgements about what pupils understand, • Feedback studies typically show very
rather than just having included it. Reading work know or can do, and how consistently they can high effects on learning.
aloud helps to avoid ‘feature spotting’.⁸ demonstrate these capabilities.⁹

Success criteria in summative assessment It allows teachers to benchmark judgements,
while ensuring consistent standards and reliable
Teachers may choose to use success criteria in outcomes. In the context of statutory TA, there
lessons to help pupils understand what they have are 2 forms of moderation.
learnt and to help them judge whether a pupil
has met the objectives for a piece of writing. Internal moderation is a vital process
Using success criteria does not mean that a conducted by schools in-house, across the trust
pupil’s writing is not independent, teachers would and, where possible, with other schools.
simply need to avoid modelling or Moderation is a collaborative process with
over-scaffolding the expected outcome. colleagues across key stages and undertaken
Furthermore, using detailed success criteria as a each half-term throughout the academic year.
teaching tool for one aspect of writing could still This supports the quality assurance of TA
provide independent evidence of other features. judgements and provides a valuable opportunity
for professional development.
3. National statutory summative assessment
The dialogue that accompanies the moderation
At the end of each key stage, teachers make a process can be of vital importance in that it can
judgement for writing against the statutory lead to a better understanding of the underlying
Teacher Assessment Frameworks (TAFs). These standards.
judgements are designed only to report an
outcome to the Department for Education. The in-depth scrutiny of a small number of pupils’
work beforehand, allows teachers to confidently
Statutory Teacher Assessment (TA) helps justify their judgements with clear evidence and
teachers and parents to understand broadly prepare for quality discussions with other
what a pupil can do in relation to national colleagues.
expectations, and allows the government to hold
schools to account for the education they provide External moderation is conducted by Local
to their pupils. However, pupils will have a wider Authorities (LAs.) They are required to externally
range of knowledge and skills than that covered moderate at least 25% of schools every year.
by statutory assessment. This is to validate judgements and ensure that
they are consistent with national standards.
The TAFs should be used only to make a statutory
teacher assessment judgement at the end of the External moderation is a collaborative process
key stage following completion of the key stage between the LA moderators and the school.
curriculum. They should not be used to track Teachers should consider it a positive part of
progress throughout the key stage.¹·² their professional development. It offers the
opportunity to discuss judgements on pupils’
performance against the requirements of the
TA frameworks.

17

6 6

INTERVENTION

Use high-quality structured interventions to help pupils who are struggling with their writing.

When is intervention needed? The gradual release of responsibility model Targeted Interventions
Schools should focus first on developing core purposefully shifts the cognitive load from Targeted interventions involve a teacher, teaching
classroom teaching strategies that improve the teacher-as-model, to joint responsibility of assistant or other adult providing intensive
writing capabilities of the whole class. With this in teacher and learner, to independent practice and individual or small-group support. This may take
place, the need for additional support should application by the learner.³ For example: place outside of normal lessons as additional
decrease. teaching, or as a replacement for other lessons.
1 - an explicit description of the strategy and
However, even when excellent classroom when and how it should be used; If pupils are withdrawn from normal classroom
teaching is occurring, it is likely that a small activity, it is important that the alternative
number of children will also require additional 2 - modelling of the strategy in action by teachers support is more effective than the teaching they
support—in the form of high-quality, structured, and/or pupils; would normally receive. If the alternative support
targeted interventions—to make expected is not more effective, it is possible for pupils to
progress.¹·² 3 - collaborative use of the strategy in action; fall even further behind as pupils left in their
class will continue to make progress.
Identifying pupils’ needs 4 - guided practice using the strategy with
The ongoing day-to-day formative assessment gradual release of responsibility; and It is also important that pupils do not miss
within each step of the teaching sequence for activities that they enjoy, and that a plan is in
writing, will enable teachers to monitor pupils 5 - independent use of the strategy.² place to ensure the pupil can make links between
who are struggling. their learning in intervention sessions and their
Prompt identification of a pupil’s specific writing work back in the classroom.¹
Diagnostic assessments can also be used to needs and provision of appropriate support are
understand the specific nature of the pupil’s critical to ensuring sustained progress. While a Intervention groupings
difficulty in order to match them to an quick response is important, it is essential that There is a strong and consistent body of evidence
appropriate intervention or to plan targeted the support offered is appropriate. For example, demonstrating the benefit of one-to-one or
support.² a pupil who has very limited vocabulary will small-group tutoring using structured
struggle to improve the quality of sentences by interventions for pupils who are struggling with
Adapting teaching with appropriate support adding in a grammatical device. It is development literacy.¹
Once a teacher has identified a pupil’s specific of understanding the vocabulary itself that will
needs, teaching can be adapted by: support learning. On average, it is a case of the smaller the group,
• changing the focus—targeting an aspect of the greater the impact: groups of two have
Targeted planning can appear daunting when slightly higher impact than groups of three, but
writing where a pupil needs more support, for pupils appear to have weaknesses in many areas, slightly lower impact compared to one-to-one
example, making sense in sentence but it is especially important to understand fully tuition. Some studies suggest that greater
composition; or such pupils’ specific writing needs before feedback from the teacher, more sustained
• changing the approach—for example, using the planning support. This is also true for pupils with engagement in smaller groups, or work that is
principles of scaffolding to provide the right special educational needs who may have specific more closely matched to pupils’ needs explains
level of support that fades as responsibility or complex needs.² this impact. Once group size increases above six
transfers to the pupil. or seven there is a noticeable reduction in
effectiveness.

18

6

Delivering interventions Handwriting is a complex skill that involves the EVIDENCE SUMMARY
Evidence suggests that interventions delivered by co-ordination of motor and visual-motor skills. Up
Teaching Assistants (TAs) can have a positive to 30% of children may experience handwriting • Prompt identification of a pupil’s
impact on attainment, but on average this impact is difficulties, so it is important to carefully monitor specific writing needs and provision of
lower than when delivered by a teacher. Crucially, and plan appropriate support and intervention. appropriate support are critical to
these positive effects only occur when TAs work in Such children are likely to benefit from ensuring sustained progress.
structured settings with high-quality support and individualised instruction, but it is important to
training. identify the specific issue before planning further • There is a strong and consistent body
support. It is also challenging for children to of evidence demonstrating the benefit
When TAs are deployed in more informal, unlearn poor habits, so dealing with handwriting of one-to-one or small-group tutoring
unsupported instructional roles, they can impact issues early—for example, by ensuring using structured interventions for
negatively on pupils’ learning outcomes. In other appropriate grip—is likely to be more effective children who are struggling with
words, what matters most is not whether TAs are than later intervention.⁵·⁶ literacy.
delivering interventions, but how they are doing
so.¹ Spelling is also a complex skill that involves • Evidence suggests that interventions
pupils having both phonemic and morphological delivered by teachers has greater
Whatever intervention is used, the following knowledge. Both consist of multiple layers of impact. However, it is crucial that
features should ensure effective practice: learning.⁷ By analysing the types of spelling errors interventions are undertaken in
pupils make, it is possible to provide support structured settings with high-quality
• brief and regular sessions that are maintained specific to their needs. Practice should be support and training.
over a sustained period and carefully timetabled extensive and is likely to work best when teachers
to enable consistent delivery; encourage pupils to use spellings in their writing. • Handwriting is one of the most
commonly sought-after interventions
• extensive training from experienced trainers Sentence construction is the expression of with up to 30% of children
or teachers; meaning. It can be an issue for some pupils, experiencing handwriting difficulties.
especially younger ones, who have poor language
• structured supporting resources and/or lesson and communication skills. Effective writing is
plans with clear objectives; underpinned by children’s expressive language
capabilities. It is important, therefore, to develop
• assessments to identify appropriate pupils, guide and monitor children’s capability to formulate
areas for focus, and track pupil progress; and articulate increasingly sophisticated
sentences and express them in writing.
• tuition that is additional to, and explicitly linked Intervention should provide pupils with models of
with, normal lessons; and simple structures where, through the use of
extensive oral and written practise, pupils
• connections between the out-of-class become more capable of learning independently.
(intervention) learning and classroom teaching.

Writing intervention
The teaching sequence for writing allows time for
pupils to share, evaluate and revise. Many skills of
writing are improved and developed within these
stages. However, the skills of handwriting, spelling
and sentence construction are the ones that most
pupils struggle with.

Alongside phonics, handwriting is the most
commonly sought-after intervention in English.⁴

19

How was this guidence compiled

This guidance report draws on the best The guidance report was created over three
available evidence regarding the teaching of stages.
Writing from the start of Nursery to KS2.
1 - Scoping. The process began with a
The primary sources of evidence for the consultation with a consultation period to
recommendations are: gather evidence of best practice in Waterton
• Preparing for Literacy (EEF 2018) Academy Trust schools.
• Improving Literacy in KS1 (EEF 2020)
• Improving Literacy in KS2 (EEF 2017) 2 - Evidence review. The Waterton School
• Metacognition and Self-regulated Learning Improvement Team reviewed a body of
research pertinent to their areas of
(EEF 2018) responsibility.
• Writing in Primary School – What we know
3 - Writing recommendations. The individual
works (CLPE 2012) report teams worked collaboratively to draft
• What is the research evidence on writing? the recommendations.

(DFE 2012) 4 - Review recommendations. The Waterton
School Improvement Team worked with the
support of the Advisory Group to draft and
finalise the recommendations.

20

Glossary

Analogy A cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a
Cognition particular subject to another.

The mental process involved in knowing, understanding, and learning.

Cognitive science The study of thought, learning, and mental organisation.
Coherence
Conventions The logical bridge between words, sentences, and paragraphs. Coherent
Deconstruct writing uses devices to connect ideas within each sentence and
paragraph.
Diagnostic assessment
The combinations of ways a writer manipulates language, spelling,
Equity grammar and punctuation to show the audience something in a unique
way.

To break something down into smaller parts. To look at how an author
can imply things he does not mean.

A form of assessment that allows a teacher to determine pupils'
individual strengths, weaknesses, knowledge, and skills prior to
instruction. It is primarily used to diagnose student difficulties and to
guide lesson and curriculum planning.
An assessment that aims to identify a pupil’s current strengths and
weaknesses so as to determine the most helpful teaching strategies and
content to move the pupil forwards. It can be distinguished from tracking
or monitoring where the aim is just to check progress. Diagnostic
assessment aims to make teaching more efficient.

The quality of being fair and impartial.

21

Glossary

Explicit teaching To teach skills or concepts using direct, structured instruction. It helps
Exploratory talk make lessons clear by modeling for students how to start and succeed on
Expository a task and giving them ample time to practice.
Externalising
Feature spotting To engage critically but constructively with own and other's ideas.
Figurative language Relevant information is offered for joint consideration. Proposals may be
Fluent challenged and counter-challenged, but if so reasons are given and
Formative assessment alternatives are offered.
Individualised
To explain, illuminate or 'expose'.
A non-fiction text that aims to inform a reader about a specific topic.

The process of transforming our thoughts into some sort of external
form, typically by writing or speaking.

To isolate a technique or a feature but then do not explore why the
feature is there and fail to discuss its effects.

Words and ideas to suggest meaning and create mental images.
Language can be literal (obvious, plainly stated, communicates exactly
what is meant) and figurative (suggests and infers meaning, rather than
simply stating it).

The ability to speak or write accurately and effortlessly

Formative assessment is using evidence to decide what to do next. It
takes place on a day-to-day basis during teaching and learning, allowing
teachers and pupils to assess attainment and progress more frequently.
It can include targeted questioning, recap activities, or peer and
self-assessment.

Give individual character to something.

22

Glossary

Internalising The process of learning something so that it becomes part of your
Intonation attitude or way of thinking.
Legible
Memory The rise and fall of the voice when speaking. An example of intonation is
(working memory) the way your voice raises in pitch at the end of a question.
Metacognition
Morphemes Clear enough to read.
Motivation
Multi-clause The structures and processes used for temporarily storing and
Orthographical manipulating information.

Metacognition is an awareness and understanding of one's own thought
processes and how to monitor and purposefully direct own learning.

Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning in language consisting of
root words e.g. cook, prefixes e.g. uncook and suffixes e.g. cooks. They
are word elements that can’t be divided into smaller meaningful parts.

Motivation is about our willingness to engage our metacognitive and
cognitive skills and apply them to learning.

A sentence made up of more than one main clause or a main clause with
any number of subordinate clauses.

The practice of proper spelling; a way of spelling or a study of spelling by
the use of the alphabet.
The rules for writing a language, including spelling, punctuation and
capitalisation.

23

Glossary

Pedagogy The method and practice of teaching.

Phoneme A phoneme is a speech sound. It is the smallest unit of sound.
Scaffolding
Self-regulated learning A variety of instructional techniques used as a temporary support that
Summative are incrementally removed when they are no longer needed.
Transcription
Pupils’ self-generated thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that are
systematically oriented toward the attainment of their learning goals.

Any method of evaluation performed at the end of a unit that allows the
measurement of a pupil’s understanding, typically against standardised
criteria.

The physical process of handwriting or typing, and spelling.

24

References

Recommendation 1 – Planning
1 - Education Endowment Foundation (2018) ‘’Metacognition and self-regulated learning’.

ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/metacognition-and-self-re
gulated-learning/
2 - Department for Education (2013) ‘National Curriculum in England: English Programmes of Study’.
ht tps: //w w w.gov.uk /government /publications/national- curriculum-in- england- english-programmes
-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study
3 - https://shanahanonliteracy.com/upload/publications/228/pdf/Science-of-Reading-2020.pdf
(Pg.13-15)
4 - https://www.focus-education.co.uk/blog/assessing-writing-primary-schools/ 2018/19
5 - Building an Outstanding Reading School (2017) www.oxfordprimary.co.uk
6 - (Sutton Trust: What makes great teaching? Review of the underpinning research pg.18 (Ball, 1991,
p5). Robert Coe, Cesare Aloisi, Steve Higgins and Lee Elliot Major (October 2014))
7 - Griffiths, A & Burns, M (2014) Teaching Backward: Crown House Publishing
8 - Education Endowment Foundation (2018) ‘Preparing for Literacy’
ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/preparing-for-literac y/
9 - Education Endowment Foundation (2017) ‘Improving Literacy in
K S2 ’.ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/literac y-k s-2 /
10 - Education Endowment Foundation (2020) ‘Improving Literacy in KS1’.
ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/literac y-k s-1/
11 - DFE - National Curriculum KS1 & 2 Framework 2013 (Pg10)
12 - CLPE – Centre for Literacy on Primary Education – Writing in Primary School – What we know works
2012
13 - (Barrs M and Cork V (2001) The Reader in the Writer - CLPE – Centre for Literacy on Primary)

Recommendation 2 – Composition
1 - Department For Education (2013) ‘National Curriculum in England: English Programmes of Study‘

ht tps: //w w w.gov.uk /government /publications/national- curriculum-in- england- english-programmes
-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study
2 - DFE (2012) ‘What is the research evidence on writing?’
ht tps: //w w w.gov.uk /government /publications/what-is-the-research- evidence- on-writing
3 - Education Endowment Foundation (2017) ‘Improving Literacy in KS2’.
ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/literac y-k s-2 /
4 - Education Endowment Foundation (2018) ‘’Metacognition and self-regulated learning’.
ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/metacognition-and-self-re
gulated-learning/
5 - DFE – The National Literacy Strategy (2000) ‘Grammar For Writing pg.7 Para 1’
ht tps: //webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk /2010 060 414 0203/ht tps: //nationals trategies.s tandards.
dc s f.gov.uk /node/153924
6 - Education Endowment Foundation (2020) ‘Improving Literacy in KS1’.
ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/literac y-k s-1/
7 - Teaching English British Council BBC (Date?) ‘Guided Writing’
ht tps: //w w w.teachingenglish.org.uk /ar ticle/guided-writing

25

References

8 - Read,Write,Think (2020) ‘Guided Writing’
http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/guided-writing-
30685.html

9 - Training Course: Standards and Teaching Agency National Training: Teacher assessment
moderation: standardisation and training process. 1st October 2019 Birmingham

Further Reading:
Berger, R. (2003) An Ethic of Excellence: Heinmann
Quigly, A. (2018) Closing the Vocabulary Gap: Routledge
Quigly, A. (2020) Closing the Reading Gap: Routledge

Recommendation 3 – Transcription
1 - Education Endowment Foundation (2020) ‘Improving Literacy in KS1’.

ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/literac y-k s-1/
2 - Education Endowment Foundation (2017) ‘Improving Literacy in KS2’.

ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/literac y-k s-2 /
3 - Department For Education (2013) ‘National Curriculum in England: English Programmes of Study ‘

ht tps: //w w w.gov.uk /government /publications/national- curriculum-in- england- english-programmes
-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study
4 - Education Endowment Foundation (2018) ‘Preparing for Literacy’
ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/preparing-for-literac y/
5 - https://www.penheaven.co.uk/blog/handwriting-still-important-digital-age/
6 - CLPE (2018) Understanding Spelling summary
ht tps: //clpe.org.uk /sites/default / files/Unders tanding %20Spelling %20summar y %20 for %20 web%20
2018.pdf
7 - Bradford Research School
ht tps: //researchschool.org.uk /bradford/news/sentence- combining-to -improve-writing-fluenc y/
20th November 2017
Further Reading:
DFE (2012) ‘What is the research evidence on writing?’
ht tps: //w w w.gov.uk /government /publications/what-is-the-research- evidence- on-writing
Santangelo, T. and Graham, S. (2016) ‘A Comprehensive Meta-analysis of Handwriting Instruction’,
Educational Psychology Review, 28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9335-1

Recommendation 4 – Speaking and Listening
1 - Department For Education (2013) ‘National Curriculum in England: English Programmes of Study ‘

ht tps: //w w w.gov.uk /government /publications/national- curriculum-in- england- english-programmes
-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study
2 - Education Endowment Foundation (2018) ‘Preparing for Literacy’
ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/preparing-for-literac y/
3 - Education Endowment Foundation (2019) ‘Teaching Toolkit – Oral Language Interventions’
ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /evidence-summaries/teaching-learning-toolkit /oral
-language-interventions/
4 - Primary National Strategy 2008 Talk for Writing – DFE

26

References

5 - Education Endowment Foundation (2018) ‘’Metacognition and self-regulated learning’.
ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/metacognition-and-self-re
gulated-learning/

6 - The work of Professor Ron Carter, University of Nottingham and his contribution to QCA Introducing
the Grammar of Talk (2004)

7 - The Primacy of Speech Conference (2004) Ron Carter -See New Perspectives on Spoken English in
the classroom DfES ref: QCA/03/107

8 - OVERARCHING STATEMENTS Barnsley Local Authority Speaking and Listening Policy Larraine
Harrison School Improvement Adviser. 2004

9 - CLPE – Centre for Literacy on Primary Education – Writing in Primary School – What we know works
201

10 - Primary National Strategy 2003 Speaking, Listening, and Learning: working with children in Key
Stages 1 and 2 – DFE

11 - DFE (2012) ‘What is the research evidence on writing?’
ht tps: //w w w.gov.uk /government /publications/what-is-the-research- evidence- on-writing

Further Reading:
Learning through imagined experience. (Hodder & Stoughton 1992)
Drama for Learning Dorothy Heathcote and Gavin Bolton Heinemann 1995)
Exploring Writing and Play in the Early Years - Hall and Robinson (David Fulton 1995)
Dance and Drama (EYFS) - Larraine S Harrison (Scholastic 1998)
Curriculum Bank Drama KS1 - Larraine S Harrison (Scholastic 1999)
Curriculum Bank Drama KS2 - Larraine S Harrison (Scholastic 1999)
Resourcing Classroom Drama (5-8yrs) and (4-14yrs) - Grainger and Cremin (NATE 2000)
Cracking Drama: Progression in drama within English-Paul Bunyan, J Catron,
L Harrison et al (NATE 2001)
Drama Links: Teaching Drama within the English Framework KS3 - Larraine S Harrison
(Hodder & Stoughton 2002)
Drama: Reading, writing and speaking. Our way forward – T Grainger, A Pickard (UKLA 2004)
Research in drama in education Vol 11 No 3 Nov 2006 Teresa Cremin, Kathy Goouch et al.
(Canterbury Christ Church University)
Improve your primary school through drama – R Dickenson, J Neelands,
Shenton Primary school (David Fulton 2006)
The Primary Drama Handbook – Patrice Baldwin (Sage 2008)
Resources/ideas for drama – www.larrainesharrison.com and on TES resources page
by Larraine Harrison.
Action research on drama with schools from Waterton MAT
(Article by Larraine Harrison Spring 2019 Primary Matters. NATE)
Learning through Drama in the Primary Years - David Farmer 2012

Recommendation 5 – Assessment & Moderation
1 - Standards & Teaching Agency - Key stage 2 teacher assessment guidance: For schools and local

authorities (2019)
2 - Standards & Teaching Agency - Key stage 1 teacher assessment guidance: For schools and local

authorities (2019)

27

References

3 - Education Endowment Foundation (2018) ‘Preparing for Literacy’
ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/preparing-for-literac y/

4 - Education Endowment Foundation (2019) ‘Teaching Toolkit – Feedback’
ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /evidence-summaries/teaching-learning-toolkit /
feedback/

5 - Education Endowment Foundation (2017) ‘Improving Literacy in KS2’.
ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/literac y-k s-2 /

6 - CPLE - Curriculum and Assessment in English 3 to 19: A Better Plan draws heavily on the series
English, Language and Literacy 3 to 19 – Principles and Proposals, published in 2015 by Owen
Education and the United Kingdom Literacy Association – Page 8

7 - Education Endowment Foundation (2018) ‘’Metacognition and self-regulated learning’.
ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/metacognition-and-self-re
gulated-learning/

8 - https://www.focus-education.co.uk/blog/assessing-writing-primary-schools/ assessing writing in
primary schools

9 - https://www.nfer.ac.uk/for-schools/free-resources-advice/assessment-hub/brushing-up-on-
assessment-guides/

Recommendation 6 – Intervention
1 - Education Endowment Foundation (2020) ‘Improving Literacy in KS1’.

ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/literac y-k s-1/
2 - Education Endowment Foundation (2017) ‘Improving Literacy in KS2’.

ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/literac y-k s-2 /
3 - Fisher, D & Frey, N (2013) Better Learning Through Structured Teaching: A Framework for the

Gradual Release of Responsibility, 2nd Edition: ASCD
ht tps: //asset s.publishing.ser vice.gov.uk /government /uploads/s y s tem/uploads/at tachment _ data/ fil
e/182503/DFE-RR108A.pdf
4 - Third Space Learning - Primary School Interventions – What Works At Key Stages 1 & 2 -
https://thirdspacelearning.com/blog/primary-school-interventions/ (2020)
5 - Education Endowment Foundation (2018) ‘Preparing for Literacy’
ht tps: //educationendowment foundation.org.uk /tools/guidance-repor t s/preparing-for-literac y/
6 - Research Report DFE-RR108(a). Evaluation of every child a writer: report 1. Ros Fisher and Liz Twist.
University of Exeter. National Foundation for Educational.(2011) assets.publishing.service.gov.uk ›
file › DFE-RR108A
7 - DFE - Support for Spelling - Primary Support Team 2009 www.primarysupportteam.co.uk (Page 3)
Further Reading:
Education Endowment Foundation (2020) The Great Teaching Toolkit Review
https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/support-and-training-for-schools/teaching-cambridge-at-your
-school/great-teaching-toolkit/

28



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