As there's a lot of discussion in the media about learning in schools, new initiatives, and the curriculum, we want to take this opportunity to share how learning in Writing looks at our school.

We believe writing is a powerful way for children to express themselves and for us to understand their world. At our school, our daily writing program is guided by real-life events and each child's developmental stage. While we often focus on personal narratives, we also explore other forms like letter writing, persuasive writing or writing reports, helping students develop a range of writing skills.

All learning is carefully aligned to the new curriculum’s learning statement for that child's year group. We understand that some ākonga (students) may need targeted intervention or extension, so teachers tailor learning to meet their specific needs. It's important to note a shift in benchmarks within the new curriculum. This may mean that ākonga who were previously achieving at an expected level may now be assessed differently.

Phase 1 (Years 0-3)

In our junior school, our writing program focuses on building foundational skills. We encourage writing daily, using a mix of inspirations such as responses to stories, personal experiences, and even poems.

• Shared writing is a key part of our program, where the class works together to create a piece of writing. This is a great opportunity to learn about the building blocks of writing, such as what makes a letter, a word, or a sentence, and how punctuation works.

• Guided writing happens in smaller groups, where teachers provide targeted mini-lessons on specific skills, like using capital letters correctly or adding full stops.

• We use Structured Literacy activities regularly to help children understand the relationship between sounds and letters (phonics) and to practice segmenting words for spelling.

• Handwriting is taught regularly, ensuring children develop clear and legible writing skills.

We regularly assess children's writing progress through teachers using indicators based on the curriculum, which also informs their next steps. A phonics check and writing moderation with other teachers is also used. Children's writing is celebrated and displayed in classrooms, and they have opportunities to share their work with classmates.

Phase 2 (Years 4-6)

As children move into the middle school years, our writing program expands to include a wider range of motivations, such as memoirs, responses to literature, and factual writing. The focus remains on writing with a clear audience, purpose, and task in mind.

• Teachers plan for daily writing, encouraging students to use a variety of strategies. This includes writing to learn across different subjects, demonstrating their understanding of concepts through written work.

• Shared writing continues to be a valuable tool, often exploring texts like class novels to highlight features of writing, such as language conventions and punctuation.

• Instructional writing takes place in flexible groups, allowing teachers to address specific learning needs through mini-lessons on areas like adding detail or structuring paragraphs.

• We continue to use a Structured Literacy approach through a "Word Study" program to target specific learning needs in spelling and word knowledge.

• Handwriting is practised regularly, often linked to our word study program or Exciting Writing Books.

We foster a culture of self reflection, feedback and improvement. Teachers use different coloured pens to provide feedback and suggestions for improvement, and students are encouraged to share their writing in a sharing circle to receive constructive feedback from peers and teachers. We use various effective literacy practices to make writing engaging and meaningful.

There are targeted writing groups in classes for ākonga who may need extra support or want to build their confidence. Assessment of writing is done in a range of ways, including writing moderation and using curriculum learning statements to make Overall Teacher Judgements (OTJs), which help us determine achievement levels and next learning steps.