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Writing at Pirton Hill

At Pirton Hill Primary school we place a strong emphasis on the key components of writing – composition, spelling and handwriting. These are foundational skills and mastering these, along with a rich lexicon, allow children to fully engage with a broad curriculum and express their learning.

As a school we us the ‘Talk for Writing’ as our approach to teaching English / Writing

This approach has been developed by Pie Corbett who says, "If children learn stories orally, it improves the quality of their writing and develops the children's self-confidence as story tellers. If a child knows a story really well, it makes the task of writing easier because they do not have to compose at the same time as tackling handwriting, spelling and punctuation."

This approach breaks the teaching of writing down into three steps / stages:

Stage 1: Immersion

  • Underpinning the whole approach is the need for children to learn stories off by heart. Therefore, during the first week of a unit of work the children learn a key text (e.g. a story, a report, a set of instructions, a diary entry, a poem) off by heart.
  • The children repeat the key text lots of times, and use actions and a text map (see the school website for examples) to help them to memorise the text, until it creates a groove in their mind (in the same way as jingles on adverts do!).
  • During this week they also look at other examples of the text type, identify the key language features and, wherever possible, use drama, artefacts, pictures, video clips and even visits to inspire and engage the children.

Stage 2: Innovation

  • During the second block of work the children use the key text as a basis for their own text. They use the structure that the key text provides but develop their own ideas and experiment with their own language choices. The children then receive daily feedback on their writing which allows them to develop and improve their writing as they go along.
  • Of course, they still keep practising the key text every day so that they know it really well!

Stage 3: Independent Application

  • After the first two stages, we give the children a chance to write their own text from scratch to demonstrate their ability and learning.  This is on orange paper and is known as the “hot task”.

Our Scheme of Work

Please refer to the Early Years Foundation Stage page for information on Nursery and Reception.

Year 1

The Curriculum Intent has been carefully designed to provide a scaffolded bridge between the end of Early Years expectations and the end of Key Stage 1 expectations and provide an increased emphasis on the foundational skills that children need to become good readers and writers.

Year 1 follow the whole-school approach of 3-week units; these are loosely based on the Talk for Writing approach (outlined above) in the Autumn Term, becoming increasingly aligned during the Spring and Summer Term.

Whilst the end of Year 1 expected outcomes are consistent with the National Curriculum, the school has carefully broken the progression down into smaller steps – to allow children to master the foundational skills before moving on. The progression is summarised on the PHPS Year 1 Progression (Small Steps). 

PHPS Year 1 Progression (Small Steps).pdf

Years 2 - 6

PHPS Year 2 Scheme of Work.pdf

Our English Policy

PHPS English Policy.pdf

Handwriting @ Pirton Hill

Handwriting is a fundamental skill that supports children’s literacy development and confidence in written communication. At Pirton Hill Primary School we are very proud of our pupil’s handwriting and take particular care in our handwriting style.

As a school we follow the Letter Join Handwriting scheme.

In summary, this covers: 

Early Years (Reception)

The Early Years module teaches handwriting using the printed method. It starts with fine and gross motor skills warm-up exercises, correct sitting position and tripod pencil grip.

It is divided into three sections covering:

  • pre-writing patterns
  • easy letters and words
  • harder letters and words

At the end of this module, children should be able to recognise and form all the printed, lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Years 1 and 2

Teaching progresses from five short, to three longer lessons per week:

  • continuing with gross and fine motor skills exercises
  • strengthening handwriting, learning and practice
  • numerals, capitals and printed letters; where and when to use, learning and practice

Years 3 and 4

Handwriting lessons will continue twice a week in Lower Key Stage 2.

  • Handwriting practice to support other subjects in the curriculum
  • Enabling children to apply the skills they are learning in context and also provide depth to the curriculum.
  • producing fluent, consistent and legible cursive handwriting

Year 5 and 6

Handwriting lessons focus on:

  • More advanced handwriting techniques will be taught during two weekly lessons:
  • Reinforcing cursive handwriting across the curriculum
  • Form-filling/labelling using printed and capital letters
  • Dictation exercises promoting quick note-taking and speedy handwriting writing skills
  • KS2 SATs SPaG practice

The school uses tramlines in Handwriting and English books, as well as flipchart pads and interactive whiteboard backgrounds, to support the application of strong transcription skills (handwriting). 

KS1 Handwriting Paper.pdf

In addition to ongoing assessment by the class teacher to support the development of transcription skills at the point of learning, from September 2025:

  • All Year 1 children complete a handwriting assessment at the end of the Autumn Term (based on the correct mechanics of writing [e.g. [pencil grip] and letter formation).  This will inform teachers and parents/ carers if their child is writing to the expected standard. Those not at the expected standard will be expected to undertake additional provision in the Spring and Summer terms to ensure that they leave Year 1 at the expected standard.
  • All Year 3 children will be assessed at the end of spring/summer term to identify gaps in their learning and development. By the end of Year 3, children would be expected to join their handwriting (where it makes sense to do so) and their writing should be fast enough to keep pace with what they want to say. This will again inform teachers and parents/ carers if their child is writing to the expected standard. Those not at the expected standard will be expected to undertake additional provision.
Handwriting Policy

PHPS Handwriting Policy.pdf

Year Group Expectations

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