Writing
At Sampford Peverell CofE Primary School, we want every child to develop the skills, confidence and creativity needed to become a successful writer. We know that writing is a complex process that depends upon many different skills working together, including language development, physical development, handwriting, spelling and sentence construction.
Our approach focuses on securing strong foundations first. We believe that children are most successful when they are taught the skills they need in a carefully sequenced way, allowing them to experience success and develop a positive identity as a writer.
Early Writing in EYFS
Writing development begins long before children write their first letter.
In our Early Years provision, we place a strong emphasis on developing the physical skills needed for writing through activities that strengthen children's:
- Core muscles
- Shoulder stability
- Arm strength
- Hand and finger muscles
- Hand-eye coordination
Alongside this physical development, children are given many opportunities to mark make throughout the learning environment. Mark making helps children understand that marks, symbols and pictures convey meaning and can be used to communicate ideas.
Children are also taught a range of pre-writing shapes before moving on to letter formation:
- Vertical lines
- Horizontal lines
- Circles
- Crosses
- Squares
- Triangles
Practising these shapes helps strengthen the small muscles and tendons in the hands and fingers needed to control a pencil while also developing hand-eye coordination. We know that if children cannot confidently form these simple shapes, they are unlikely to be successful when forming more complex shapes such as letters. This progression is a key part of our handwriting development approach.
Letter Formation and Handwriting
At Sampford Peverell Primary School, we believe that perfect practice makes permanent. For this reason, correct pencil grip and letter formation are taught from the very beginning of a child's writing journey.
Children are taught to hold a pencil using an effective tripod grip and are shown how to sit correctly for writing. These habits are reinforced consistently across the school.
Read Write Inc. Letter Formation
In Reception, children learn letter formation alongside their Read Write Inc. phonics programme. As each Set 1 Sound is introduced, children learn the accompanying Read Write Inc. letter formation rhyme to help them remember how to form the letter correctly.
Children who require additional support with letter formation are quickly identified and provided with extra practice sessions. Where appropriate, families may receive:
- Letter formation practice sheets
- Video demonstrations
- Additional home practice activities
This partnership between school and home helps children develop secure letter formation habits from the outset.
Handwriting Progression
Once children have learned all of the Read Write Inc. Set 1 Sounds, they begin daily handwriting lessons.
Handwriting is taught through letter families, grouping letters that use similar movement patterns together. This approach helps children develop efficient motor patterns, strengthens muscle memory and reduces errors.
By learning letters in this way, children develop confidence and fluency while reinforcing correct movement patterns.
Our handwriting families include:
Around Letters
c, o, a, g, d, q
Down Letters
r, n, m, h, b, i, j, l, t, k, u, y, p
Curly Letters
f, e, s
Zig-zag Letters
v, w, x, z
Joining Letters
From Year 3 onwards, children begin learning cursive joins.
Joins are taught systematically in carefully planned groups and practised daily throughout Key Stage 2 (Years 3 to 6).
Join Groups
Group 1 am, an, ch, ck, er, ff, ll, ph, qu, sh, th
Group 2 as, dd, ng, so
Group 3 be, ie, ue
Group 4 av, ew, ix, zz
Group 5 oe, re, ve, we
Group 6 on, rh, vi, wh
Group 7 oa, ro, va, wo
Children requiring additional support receive targeted intervention and families may be provided with practice sheets and video links to support learning at home.
Further information can be found here.
Building Successful Writers
As children's writing develops, teaching focuses on the specific skills they need next. This may involve work at:
- Letter level
- Word level
- Sentence level
- Text level
Our aim is always to ensure children experience success.
There is little value in asking a child to write lengthy pieces if they are still struggling with letter formation or sentence construction. Instead, we focus on securing the foundations first so that children can approach writing with confidence and achieve success at every stage.
This approach helps children develop a positive self-image as writers and reduces the risk of children seeing themselves as "not good at writing."
Speaking Before Writing
We place a strong emphasis on oral composition.
Before children are expected to write sentences, they are taught to construct them orally. This ensures that handwriting, spelling or transcription skills do not become barriers to the development of language and ideas.
Children are encouraged to:
- Say sentences aloud before writing them.
- Hold a sentence in their heads before recording it.
- Rehearse vocabulary and sentence structures orally.
- Use the Read Write Inc. strategy of Fred Fingers to support spelling (see spelling page for more info)
In Reception and KS1 (Year 1 and Year 2), our focus is not on producing large quantities of writing. Instead, we prioritise:
- Accurate letter formation
- Effective pencil grip
- Sentence construction
- Using Fred Fingers to spell
- Understanding what a sentence is
- Writing simple sentences accurately
Securing these foundations is essential for future success in Key Stage 2, where children move on to writing increasingly sophisticated texts.
Our Writing Curriculum
From Year 1 to Year 6, we follow The Literacy Tree.
The Literacy Tree is a complete book-based approach which places high-quality literature at the centre of the writing curriculum. Children explore rich and engaging texts which provide meaningful contexts for writing while developing vocabulary, comprehension and a love of literature.
The Literacy Tree curriculum enables children to:
- Experience a diverse range of quality books
- Learn from significant authors and illustrators
- Develop creativity and imagination
- Write for a range of purposes and audiences
- Build their knowledge of vocabulary, grammar and composition
In Reception, books are carefully selected to link with children's topics and interests, while drawing upon Literacy Tree objectives to ensure progression throughout the year.
Supporting Writing at Home
Parents and carers play an important role in supporting writing development.
Help With Handwriting Practice
If handwriting videos or letter formation sheets are sent home, we strongly encourage families to complete these alongside their child.
Short, regular practice sessions are often much more effective than occasional longer sessions.
Consistency between home and school helps children establish accurate letter formation and handwriting habits.
Talk Together
One of the most powerful ways to support writing is through conversation.
Encourage your child to:
- Tell you about their day.
- Explain their ideas.
- Retell stories.
- Predict what might happen next.
- Describe events in sequence.
Developing oral language helps children become stronger writers and below is some information so that you can understand and support your child's writing journey.
Supporting sentence construction.