Writing

Writing composition is a fundamental life skill that equips children to become lifelong learners. Our approach develops culturally literate children, preparing them for further education and beyond. At Holy Family, writing is rooted in our Good Book Journey, where all writing is inspired by high-quality, rich and diverse texts. These texts expose learners to a wide range of genres and foster a love of literature, inspiring pupils to become confident, creative and ambitious writers.

Our teaching reflects research-based principles, including Rosenshine’s instructional approaches and is carefully structured to ensure progression. Lessons begin with a WAGOLL (What a Good One Looks Like) to model high expectations, followed by a ‘boxing up’ process, helping pupils identify the purpose, structure, form and vocabulary of the genre in small, manageable steps. Writing is developed through a plan, draft, edit, publish cycle, within which grammar, punctuation and sentence construction are taught explicitly and implicitly. Vocabulary development is embedded across reading and writing lessons, and enrichment opportunities such as Poetry Week, Shakespeare Week and film units broaden cultural literacy.

Additional approaches support all learners in developing confidence and independence. The FANTASTICS framework guides idea generation and vocabulary development, while the BOOMTASTICS introduce literary techniques to engage the reader. Sentence construction and language are further reinforced through Colourful Talk and Sentence Time, particularly for pupils requiring extra scaffolding. Spelling is taught using a six-step approach with Spelling Shed, aligned to RWI phonics strategies, and handwriting progresses from the RWI Handwriting Village in EYFS and KS1 to the “3 Zones” approach in KS2, with the aspirational Pen Licence in later years.

Through this structured and immersive approach, pupils leave Holy Family as confident, ambitious writers who understand purpose, audience and structure. They develop strong sentence-level skills, a broad and ambitious vocabulary and the ability to plan, draft, edit and publish across a wide range of genres. All pupils, irrespective of starting point, experience a wide variety of high-quality texts, which supports language acquisition, reading comprehension and lifelong literacy. The curriculum equips learners to communicate effectively, express creativity and develop as culturally literate lifelong learners.

The Good Book Journey

"Good writing begins with a good book."

Here at Holy Family, we firmly believe that writing and reading are inextricably linked.  All of our writing is inspired by high-quality texts. 

Teaching the Catholic Social Principles

Writing Strategy

Good Book Journey

Our Writing Process:

The Writing Process combines Jane Considine’s The Write Stuff research with Rosenshine’s instructional principles, tailored to the needs of our diverse cohorts, including pupils with SEN, EAL and attendance challenges. The approach focuses on developing oracy, vocabulary and a love of storytelling.

1. Immerse – Full immersion in the class text develops engagement, creativity and speaking and listening skills.
2. WAGOLL – Provides a model of effective writing. They are carefully sequenced to ensure progression in sentence construction, GPS, authorial effect and whole-text composition. The English Lead disseminates WAGOLLs each term to ensure skills are mapped progressively across the year and across year groups. This maintains continuity, coverage and a balanced approach to narrative and non-narrative writing.
3. Features & Boxing Up – Children explore the structure and layout of a text to identify a genre’s ‘shape’ and plan to replicate it in their own writing. They then identify language features, style, tone and techniques that contribute to the effect of the writing.
4. Plan, Draft, Publish – Lessons use scaffolded planning stages, drafting and reviewing, incorporating self-checking and editing. This ensures pupils build independence while applying writing skills effectively.
5. Shared Writing – Between planning and drafting stages, teachers model writing explicitly, verbalising thought processes to scaffold sentence construction, grammar and authorial techniques.

Colourful Talk

We use a visual, structured approach to support sentence construction and language, adapted from Language Through Colour and Colourful Semantics. This helps all learners, particularly those who need extra language support, to plan, rehearse and write confidently. It is embedded across 1:1, small group and whole-class teaching, reinforced through lesson planning, classroom displays and word banks.

Sentence Time

Sentence-level GPS sessions are timetabled three times per week as early work, focusing on explicit grammar, punctuation and sentence instruction without the immediate expectation to produce extended writing. Pupils identify parts of speech and punctuation using Colourful Talk symbols where appropriate. Skills are reinforced regularly, building confidence and accuracy that can be applied in their independent writing.

Spelling

The teaching of spelling follows a six-step approach. The curriculum uses Spelling Shed resources, which are reviewed and adapted by the English Lead to ensure alignment with Read, Write Inc practices.

Handwriting

EYFS and KS1
Pupils follow the Read, Write Inc. Handwriting Village programme, using visualisation techniques such as picture hooks, phrases, mnemonics and letter families to support memorisation. Handwriting is taught in daily, timetabled sessions to establish consistent formation habits.

KS2
Handwriting progresses to the “3 Zones” approach (Sky, Grass, Ground), simplifying the RWI letter families for older pupils. Teachers model correct formation throughout lessons, integrating practice into Spelling and Sentence Time, and reference model displays to support independent writing.

Black History Poetry Week:

At Holy Family, Black History Poetry Week celebrates the voices, stories and achievements of Black authors and historical figures. Each year group has a focus poet or figure: EYFS explores identity and belonging, Year 1 studies Mary Seacole, Year 2 focuses on Marcus Rashford, Year 3 engages with Maya Angelou, Year 4 explores the voice of Martin Luther King, Year 5 reflects on Rosa Parks and Year 6 studies Nelson Mandela. Across the school, children experience a wide range of forms, from limericks and haikus to narrative poetry and sonnets. The week highlights both historic and contemporary Black voices, fostering an understanding of their cultural significance and reinforcing our school values of respect, love and community.

Shakespeare Week:

Writing in Action:

Writing in action