The overarching aim for writing at Dymchurch is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. We do this by using our own curriculum that develops the teaching of writing skills from word level, to sentence level and onto the ability to communicate clearly and purposefully in a variety of contexts.

In life, words are extremely important and powerful. Without words, we would find it incredibly difficult to communicate, our thoughts, feelings, dreams, hopes and fears. They are vehicles of communication and as such the ability to understand, say, read and write them is of paramount importance to enable us all to communicate and enjoy the many riches that the spoken and written word has to offer.

We use words to communicate in many different ways and contexts: we use them to communicate with others by speaking and listening, receive messages in print, for example, in newspapers, magazines, comics and books, labels on tins and food packets; we need to be able to use words effectively to send and receive text messages and by posting and messaging friends on social media, such as Twitter. We are surrounded by words and language and because they are so central to our lives here at Dymchurch, we strive to offer our children the richest opportunities that develop a natural love for words (vocabulary) and how to use them effectively in a range of contexts for different purposes.
 

At Dymchurch, we believe that language is a powerful tool for learning and social development and are committed to developing children’s spoken and written form. We understand that reading and writing go hand in hand; children need to be capable and fluent readers in order to become capable and fluent writers.

We recognise that writing is a complicated process and therefore, in order for children to succeed, our planning provides a range of adaptive strategies to support their success. These scaffolds include drama and role play, technology, writing for a range of purposes and audiences, explicit grammar teaching in context, exposure to high quality texts, visual and language models as well as the systematic teaching of spelling and handwriting.

All texts and skills covered at Dymchurch can be found in the documentation below.

Our Writing Intent:

• To foster a deep love and appreciation for writing, ensuring that pupils become proficient and confident writers who can express themselves creatively and effectively.
• Choosing high-quality texts as a stimulus for writing.
• Use an 8 step approach where teacher models are studied and then used as building blocks for independent writing.
• High-quality teaching that is tailored to meet the needs of all learners, including those with additional support requirements
• Constructive feedback which enables children to edit and improve their work.
• A carefully designed curriculum which progressively develops pupils' writing skills, equipping them with the necessary tools to communicate clearly and purposefully in a variety of contexts.
• The intent is underpinned by a strong belief in the transformative power of writing, enabling pupils to become articulate and persuasive communicators, both in their academic pursuits and in their future lives.