Writing
At the heart of our writing curriculum is the theme of inspiring and engaging children through carefully selected texts and stimuli. Our approach fosters a love of writing while equipping pupils with the skills they need to communicate confidently and effectively for a variety of purposes.
Each unit of writing is structured around a clear and meaningful purpose for writing—for example to entertain our friends, inform our parents, persuade our teachers, or explain to our community. By linking our key writing skills to specific purposes, this enables Bretton’s pupils to develop a deep understanding of how spelling, language, structure, and style can change depending on the context and audience. However, we have to be masters of our basic skills first. You have to walk before you can run, so having the basics of pencil grip, letter formation, posture for writing and use of capital letters must precede any more complex skills.
We believe that great writing begins with great inspiration. Our curriculum is supported by high-quality texts chosen to captivate young imaginations. These are complemented by engaging visual stimuli, real-world experiences, and cross-curricular links to bring writing to life and spark creativity and thinking. The proof is in the pudding, just come and read some of our work.
"Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers." - Isaac Asimov
We are currently developing a strong emphasis on oral rehearsal as a vital step in the writing process. Children are encouraged to articulate their ideas out loud, helping them to refine sentence structure, clarify their thinking, and develop a more varied and ambitious vocabulary. This verbal exploration builds confidence and supports pupils in transferring their spoken ideas into written form. It is also a great way of hearing ideas from our classmates.
In terms of our writing journey, we take a structured approach to teaching writing, ensuring that children build on their skills over time. Each unit begins with focused teaching sessions, where children learn and practise key skills — such as skill identification, sentence construction, grammar, and vocabulary — all tailored to the purpose of writing. These skills are embedded through guided practice, scaffolded writing and shared writing opportunities before children independently apply them in their final piece. To develop this final piece, we promote a multi-stage writing process that includes planning, drafting, editing, and publishing. Throughout, pupils are encouraged to reflect on their writing, make improvements, and take pride in their and other children’s work.
Once key skills are embedded, children are given opportunities to write for the chosen purpose. In some year groups, this may focus around a specific genre such as an explanation text or persuasive letter. This not only reinforces their understanding of writing for different purposes but also nurtures their unique voice and style as writers.
As we said before, the proof is in the pudding. *Coming soon: superb examples of our work.
