Writing
In the Foundation Stage our children are encouraged to practise their pre-writing skill and explore mark making as a form of communication. As their skills progress, children begin to form letters and develop an understanding of how stories are structured. Using the Talk for Writing strategies teachers use stories and rhyme to develop systematic approaches to the children’s early language development. This provides the children with scaffolds to support their language development and writing. These foundations are built on in Key Stage One as the children mature into skilled authors.
We believe that a well chosen text provides rich language models and structures from which children can learn how writing works and the effect it can have on a reader. With a rich diet of quality texts and enriching experiences children at Cheam Common Infants’ find their own reasons to write and develop a style that fits the purpose, audience and form intended.
We develop confident young writers who are inspired by meaningful events and experiences in texts and real life. Children draw on their experiences of reading when shaping their own writing forming an understanding and appreciation of how language functions and how best to use this when writing themselves.
Through the Power of Reading programme we share rich examples of writing, both on and off the page including texts that allow children to absorb the rhythms and patterns of language, reflecting the cultural, social and linguistic diversity of the children, as well as introducing a world beyond the familiar. Hearing the written word is extremely important but we also want to ensure that children can understand how meaning is conveyed in other forms such as film, illustration, digital texts and performance.
When exposed to a range of texts that demonstrate expressive, informational and imaginative writing, children begin to understand how to control and manipulate the conventions of writing for a range of purposes throughout a variety of forms across narrative, non-fiction and poetry.
