Early Writing

Intent

Our intent for early writing is to provide children with the foundational skills needed to become confident and successful writers. By the end of Reception, we aim for children to have developed their oral composition skills into confident and creative storytellers through exposure to a range of high-quality stories. We believe confident speakers become confident writers; therefore, alongside oral composition, children will build transcriptional skills to begin their journey as writers, forming recognisable letters and simple phrases and sentences.

Implementation

In Early Years, we follow the Talk for Writing (TfW) approach to develop confident, creative writers from the very start. Writing is taught daily with one unit per half term. During the first three weeks of school, children experience three stories in three weeks to immerse them in rich language and begin their story telling journey. Our focus begins with composition, building oral storytelling skills through talk, visuals and shared experiences. Vocabulary is explicitly taught using real objects, actions and child-friendly definitions within a language-rich environment. Children engage in modelling, shared writing and guided opportunities alongside independent TfW activities in provision areas such as role play. Every Monday, our: “Make It Up Monday,” sessions encourage story invention using the five-sentence story structure to support the development of our children as storytellers.

To complement our TfW work and to instil a love of independent writing, we use Greg Bottrill’s Message Centre within our provision. The Message Centre creates a “magic” writing space which transforms mark-making into meaningful communication – through this approach, children are inspired to write, reply to secret notes and share messages, which builds their confidence, motivation and early writing skills in a playful, child-led way.

We also teach transcription skills systematically and consistently. Spelling is taught through daily Sounds-Write phonics, supported by planned dictation and weekly common exception words. Handwriting is developed through daily Kinetic Letters sessions with a strong emphasis on posture, grip and fluent letter formation. These skills are practised cumulatively across provision areas. Strong home-school partnerships underpin our approach through regular communication via teacher tips, workshops, newsletters and story maps sent home so families can support writing at home.

Impact

At the heart of our approach is the belief that confident speakers become confident writers. Through our implementation, children leave the Early Years as enthusiastic communicators who can compose sentences orally, use a wide and precise vocabulary and apply transcription skills with growing fluency. They will have strong foundations, both compositionally and transcriptionally, to continue their writing journey in Year 1.

Intent

Our intent is to ensure that children develop secure transcriptional skills and build on the compositional skills established in the early years as a foundation for confident writing. In Year 1, pupils will focus on accurate letter formation, applying phonics knowledge to produce phonetically plausible spellings and beginning to use basic punctuation. With oracy as a key driver, we will enable children to express their thoughts with confidence and clarity. These essential skills enable children to translate their spoken ideas into written form effectively, supporting their progression towards fluent and independent writing.

Implementation

In Year 1, writing is taught through a structured, consistent approach that prioritises transcriptional skills. Phonics is delivered daily using the Sounds-Write programme to secure decoding and spelling, enabling children to apply their phonics knowledge confidently in independent writing. Handwriting is taught through the Kinetic Letters approach, ensuring correct letter formation, orientation, size and building stamina for longer writing tasks. Each day includes a Talk for Writing session to develop oral language, vocabulary and sentence structure, alongside a focused 30-minute handwriting and sentence-building session to reinforce transcriptional accuracy. Writing opportunities are purposeful and linked to high-quality texts, allowing children to rehearse and apply skills in meaningful contexts. Alongside transcription, we aim to continue the compositional journey from Reception. We build oracy skills through regular rehearsal and learning of model texts that expose children to a range of sentence structures. Children use sentence stems across all areas of the curriculum to support structured talk and they take part in weekly ‘Make It Up Monday’ sessions where they use their creativity and imagination to plan and tell stories, developing confidence in spoken language as a foundation for writing. Teachers model writing processes, provide targeted feedback and embed handwriting and spelling practice across the curriculum to ensure fluency and independence.

Impact

By the end of Year 1, children will demonstrate secure transcriptional skills that enable them to write with growing confidence and independence. Pupils will form letters accurately and fluently using the Kinetic Letters approach and apply their phonics knowledge from Sounds-Write to produce phonetically plausible spellings, alongside increasing accuracy with common exception words. Writing will show evidence of simple sentence structure, correct use of capital letters and full stops and purposeful vocabulary choices developed through Talk for Writing. Sentence structure will progress from including a ‘who’ and a ‘doing’ with additions such as ‘describe’, ‘what’ and ‘where’.  Children will be able to translate their spoken ideas into written form effectively, laying a strong foundation for future composition and transcription skills. They will be prepared for the increasing expectations of Year 2, ready to make careful grapheme choices and extending sentence structures. 

Intent

Our intent in Year 2 is to consolidate and extend children’s transcriptional and compositional skills so they can talk and write with increasing fluency, accuracy and creativity. Building on the foundations from Year 1, pupils will secure spelling patterns, handwriting fluency and grammatical understanding while developing the ability to write for a range of purposes and audiences. Oracy remains a key driver, enabling children to articulate ideas clearly and confidently before translating them into written form. By the end of Year 2, children will be prepared for the transition to Key Stage 2 with strong skills in sentence construction, vocabulary choice and text organisation.

Implementation

In Year 2, writing builds on Year 1 foundations through a structured approach. Talk for Writing remains central, with daily sessions using high-quality model texts to develop compositional skills in meaningful contexts. Oracy is prioritised through structured talk, story invention and text mapping to support fluency and creativity. Handwriting is taught weekly using Kinetic Letters, focusing on posture, grip and fluent letter formation while building stamina for extended writing. Spelling moves beyond phonics for most pupils, with targeted Sounds-Write support for those who need it. Whole-class teaching emphasises spelling rules and common exception words, reinforced through dictation and application in writing tasks. Teachers model writing, provide targeted feedback and embed handwriting and spelling practice across the curriculum to ensure accuracy and independence. Writing opportunities are purposeful and linked to varied genres and audiences, consolidating transcriptional skills while extending vocabulary, sentence variety and text organisation.

Impact

By the end of Year 2, children will write with greater fluency and independence, building on the secure transcriptional foundations from Year 1. They will maintain accurate letter formation using Kinetic Letters and apply spelling rules confidently, including common exception words. Most pupils will move beyond phonics, while those needing support will secure decoding and spelling through targeted intervention. Writing will show varied sentence structures, purposeful vocabulary and growing control of grammar and punctuation, including capital letters, full stops and more complex joins. Children will write for a range of purposes and audiences with improved organisation and coherence, effectively translating spoken ideas into extended written pieces. These skills will prepare them for Key Stage 2, ready to develop greater sophistication in composition and transcription.