Writing at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School

At Our Lady of Fatima, we recognise that reading is fundamental to the writing process. From blending phonics to build words and sentences, to using texts as inspiration for structure, theme, and atmosphere, reading forms the essential foundation of every child's writing journey.

'I Am a Clever Writer' Approach

We use the 'I Am a Clever Writer' mastery approach to teaching writing, ensuring a systematic and consistent progression of skills across the school. Each class, from EYFS to Year 6, follows a tailored Clever Writer checklist, carefully aligned with the National Curriculum objectives for their year group. This checklist serves as a writing toolkit, helping children understand what they need to include to be successful. It allows them to:

Verbalise their success criteria
Reflect on their progress
Build confidence in their writing skills

Each year, children add new skills to their Clever Writer checklist, reinforcing previous learning while challenging themselves to progress further. The checklists are clearly displayed in every classroom, providing a constant reference point for pupils as they write. This approach supports teachers in planning engaging lessons that ensure every child makes significant progress.

Developing Early Writing Skills

• EYFS: Writing begins with mark-making, progressing to CVC words and short sentences using phonics knowledge. Children are encouraged to write independently during continuous provision, applying the sounds they have learned.
• Year 1: Pupils continue using their phonics knowledge and have access to RWI sound mats to support independent writing across different activities, whether working with a teacher, in provision areas, or on independent tasks.

Assessment and Moderation

• Teachers assess writing using the 'I'm a clever writer skills ladders' and moderate across year groups and phases.
• Moderation also takes place across our MAC, ensuring consistency and high standards.

High-Quality Texts & Spelling

• High-quality texts are carefully selected to inspire writing across all year groups.
• Pupils receive weekly spellings and practice through Doodle learning and via strategies such as Look, Cover, Write technique.
• Teachers track back to address gaps in spelling knowledge, ensuring progression.

Grammar & Writing Across the Curriculum

• Grammar is embedded within English.
• Teachers model accurate grammar usage and follow the Clever Writer checklist to ensure consistency.
• Writing across the curriculum is supported by WAGOLLs (What A Good One Looks Like), allowing children to identify key features of different text types before using these as a scaffold for their own writing.

At Our Lady of Fatima, we are committed to developing confident, skilled, and engaged writers, ensuring that every child progresses in their writing journey.

VIPERS

Children are explicitly taught the skills of reading (outlined in the National Curriculum and the KS1 and KS2 test domains) through the use of VIPERS which were created by Rob Smith (The Literacy Shed).

The Reading Vipers can be used by both KS1 and KS2 with a little adaption. The main difference being in the S.

Sequence- KS1

Summarise-KS2

In KS1, 'Explain'; is not one of the content domains, rather it asks children why they have come to a certain conclusion, to explain their preferences, thoughts and opinions about a text.

In KS2, the Explain section covers the additional content domains of 2F, 2G and 2H which are not present in KS1.

Key Stage 1

In Key Stage One children reading skills are taught and practised using the VIPERS during guided reading sessions.

Key Stage 2

In Key Stage Two children reading skills are taught and practised using VIPERS during guided  reading sessions.