Parent Workshop ‘Writing is Exciting’

1. Parent Workshop‘Writing is Exciting’ January 2014 Bonnygate Primary School Mrs Jarvis

2. Workshop Aims • To consider why “writing is exciting”. • To understand the many elements of writing. • To understand ‘writing at Bonnygate’ • To consider how this can impact on writing at home. • To ask questions, discuss and enjoy!

3. Writing is Exciting • At Bonnygate Primary School we aim to help children to develop a love of the English language through the spoken and written word. We believe that literacy provides the key to unlock other areas of learning enabling all pupils to take part in a full, exciting curriculum. • Demonstration of a typical upper KS2 shared writing session.

4. Our aims for your children • Enjoyment of Literacy – pride & positivity. • To be able to write in a range of genre in fiction, non-fiction and poetry and for different purposes and audiences. • To write with confidence, fluency and enjoyment and to see the purpose and value of their writing. • To use their obtained language skills in all areas of the curriculum. • To develop powers of imagination and inventiveness • To develop a legible and fluent handwriting style. • To extend their own vocabulary. • To take great pride in the presentation of their work.

5. Writing at BonnygateThe Early Years….. • Many opportunities to write freely. • To see demonstrations of how people write. • To see teacher‟s & other adults using writing in a variety of ways. • To see their spoken language changed into written form. • Many opportunities to work with the teacher, individually or in a small group, on different aspects of writing. • Opportunities to choose their own topics based on their experiences & interests. • A supportive climate for writing. • Comments which focus first on the message, rather than spelling, handwriting etc

6. Writing at BonnygateThe developing writers….. • To see demonstrations of, and learn to use, an ongoing revision process i.e. to write, read, reread & rewrite as they go along. • To use a range of different text forms, based on models which they have analysed. • To share, reflect on and discuss their work in supportive situations. • To write for a range of audiences. • To understand who they are writing for and why.

7. Writing at BonnygateHandwriting…. • A fluent and legible handwriting style is developed and encouraged. • The aim is to develop a joined, cursive script as they progress through KS1 and KS2. We use the Nelson Handwriting font a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

8. Impact on writing at home… • Knowledge of children’s writing targets (generalised and termly). • Supporting the development of handwriting at the correct times (don’t force the development). • Encouragement and use of success criteria for punctuation and sentence structure. • Following the Golden Rules for writing!

9. Golden Rules for Writing! • DO offer plenty of praise. • DON‟T bribe a child to write (or read!). • DO allow different forms of writing. • DON‟T get obsessed with spelling. • DO speak to me and us!