Writing

Vision & Philosophy

Primary School Writers – “they can write, they want to write and they possess the knowledge, interests and experiences to write.”

(Carol Avery, 2002)

At Quarters Primary School we are using evidence-based strategies for teaching writing, including but not limited to The Writing Revolution & 6+1 Traits, with the aim of building a culture where our learners want to write and see themselves as authors.

Learners craft writing pieces with the purpose to entertain, inform or persuade. It is our objective to provide authentic writing opportunities with authentic audiences to develop every student’s voice as an author.

We use the Writer’s Workshop model (see diagram) to promote predictability and routine and to allow learners the opportunity to learn the writing process.

Learners will be explicitly taught the traits of effective writing and our writing program will rely on collecting valuable data to provide targeted and differentiated learning opportunities for all students. There will be a big focus on using learning continuums to identify strengths and set goals for areas of improvement.

Our program will provide the direct link between reading and writing by using mentor texts to support learners in creating their own pieces of writing. Along with using published authors to support the writing process, students will have their own Writer’s Notebook. These notebooks will provide student voice opportunities and a place where the craft of writing can be practiced. “A writer’s notebook is a tool for helping our students grow into lifelong writers. It is where students capture observations, reactions, ideas, questions, memories, quotes, sketches, lists, or snippets of language. It is a place to experiment, collect, and hold on to thinking.” (Heather Clayton, 2020)

As with all curriculum areas we will be supporting inclusion by using the Response to Intervention (RTI) model. This is a multi-tiered approach to learning instruction which enables us to differentiate instruction and target specific skills for learners with particular challenges with:

• Tier 1 – involving whole-class instruction, planned for during staff Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and during collaborative planning using evidence-based instruction and data.
• Tier 2 – involving targeted support in small group sessions for students identified as at risk to supplement skill-building as a result of a teacher’s responsiveness to observational and formative data.
• Tier 3 – involving individual intensive 1:1 targeted support informed by data and Individual Education Plans.

At Quarters Primary School we endeavour to create lifelong writers!