Writing Curriculum Rationale
At Rosebrook Primary School, we have carefully selected the Ready Steady Write programme as the foundation of our writing curriculum. This comprehensive and progressive platform aligns seamlessly with the National Curriculum, ensuring our pupils develop the essential skills and knowledge required to become confident and accomplished writers.
The Ready Steady Write programme is designed to improve writing outcomes for all pupils by providing a consistent and structured approach to teaching both oral composition and transcriptional knowledge. The sequenced and progressive nature of the programme allows our teachers to build upon pupils’ prior learning, ensuring a coherent and meaningful learning journey.
A key strength of the Ready Steady Write programme is its strong emphasis on the use of high-quality children’s literature as the core of each unit. This not only exposes our pupils to a diverse range of texts and genres but also allows them to develop a deeper understanding of how language can be used to create meaning and effect. By reading as writers and writing as readers, our pupils will gain invaluable insights into the craft of writing, which they can then apply to their own compositions.
The Ready Steady Write programme was recognised as a Primary Award winner, further reinforcing its suitability for our school context. The judges praised the programme’s “impressive joined-up approach” and its ability to provide a “real wealth and wide selection of resources for whole school planning purposes.” This aligns perfectly with our school’s improvement priorities, which include a focus on consistent curriculum documentation and a need to ensure a robust approach to the teaching of writing across all year groups.
Whole School Aims
The Ready Steady Write programme is fully aligned with Rosebrook Primary School’s vision and values. Our guiding principle of “we can be whatever we dream” is reflected in the programme’s aspirational approach, which encourages our pupils to develop the skills and confidence to express themselves effectively in writing.
Subject Vision
At Rosebrook Primary School, we believe that the ability to communicate effectively through writing is a fundamental skill that underpins success across the curriculum and in life beyond school. By implementing the Ready Steady Write programme, we aim to instill in our pupils a love of writing, a deep understanding of the writing process, and the confidence to express their ideas in a clear and compelling manner.
Our writing curriculum is designed to not only develop technical proficiency in areas such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation but also to cultivate the creative and critical thinking skills necessary for successful composition, which should be demonstrated by the end of Y6 through independent application.
Through the use of high-quality literature, our pupils will be exposed to a wide range of writing styles and techniques, which they can then apply to their own work.
The implementation of the Ready Steady Write programme aligns closely with our school’s improvement priorities, particularly in the areas of reading comprehension, oracy progression, and writing attainment. By ensuring a consistent and robust approach to the teaching of writing, we are confident that our pupils will make significant progress in these key areas, ultimately contributing to the school’s overall academic success.
Addressing Inspection Feedback
The Ready Steady Write programme directly addresses the key areas for improvement identified in the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection. Specifically:
- Curriculum planning and progression: The Ready Steady Write programme provides a clear and structured scheme of work that ensures a logical sequence of learning, allowing our teachers to build pupils’ knowledge and skills step by step. This addresses the need for more precision in the school’s foundation subject curricula, as highlighted in the inspection feedback.
- Personal development: The Ready Steady Write programme includes dedicated segments for narrative and non-fiction writing, as well as opportunities for poetry creation. This comprehensive approach to writing aligns with the school’s recently introduced personal development scheme of work, ensuring that our pupils develop a secure understanding of local risks and the skills needed to deal with them.
- Pupil progress: The Ready Steady Write programme’s robust assessment and monitoring strategies will enable our school leaders to closely track the progress of all pupils, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds. This will help us to address the identified need to improve pupil premium attainment in KS1 and RWM combined across all year groups.
By implementing the Ready Steady Write programme, we are confident that we can address the key areas for improvement identified in the school’s Ofsted inspection, ultimately ensuring that our pupils receive a high-quality, aspirational, and well-rounded writing education.