At Parklands, we strive to help our children develop into articulate and imaginative communicators, who are well-equipped with the skills they need, to become life-long learners; English learning is key in this.

Writing

In Reception, children are taught ‘writing’ in a variety of ways. At Parklands we balance this teaching through English lessons and teaching and consolidation in the classroom environment. We advocate Pie Corbett’s ‘Talk for Writing’ in Reception, which is an approach to teaching writing that encompasses a three-stage pedagogy: ‘imitation’ (where pupils learn and internalise texts, to identify transferrable ideas and structures), ‘innovation’ (where pupils use these ideas and structures to co-construct new versions with their teachers), and ‘invention’ (where teachers help pupils to create original texts independently). We find this strategy to teaching writing very successful for our children, which gives children an understanding of the structure and elements of written language. The story telling, regularly seeing adult modelled writing, proves extremely successful in sparking children’s imaginations and love for writing too. It also promotes excellent opportunities for developing communication, language and vocabulary as well as promoting confidence through performance.

The classroom environment in Reception is carefully thought-out and set up in such a way that throughout continuous provision, both inside and outside, provide many opportunities for children to mark make and write. Presenting writing resources in different areas of provision enables children to learn to write for a variety of purposes. Practitioners are skilled in recognising when to suggest mark making opportunities, for example: making road maps and labelling them in the construction area and writing shopping lists in the home corner. They often arise from successful interactions during play. Most importantly, we celebrate and display our children’s mark making and writing around the classroom, and specifically on children’s individual WOW WALL.

In Key Stages 1 and 2, we begin each school year by teaching and embedding the Place Value of Punctuation and Grammar (PVPG) approach, developed by Grammarsaurus. This provides children with a clear and structured understanding of how punctuation and grammar build progressively, much like numbers in place value. Children learn how punctuation and grammar work in sequence, ensuring their writing develops logically and accurately. The PVPG framework helps children recognise the “value” of each punctuation mark and grammatical structure, supporting their ability to use them confidently and purposefully.

Grammar, Punctuation, Vocabulary and Spelling

By focusing on these fundamentals early in the year, we equip pupils with the essential tools to structure sentences, organise ideas, and write with clarity and precision. This consistent approach ensures that all children are provided with the building blocks they need to become confident, creative and successful writers throughout the year.

Once PVPG objectives have been met, children move on to following the school’s long-term writing plan, which is integrated with the Grammarsaurus PVPG and spelling scheme. This ensures children use new spellings in context immediately, reinforcing learning and retention. The writing curriculum consists of units of work aligned with the National Curriculum.

Spelling is taught through the Spelling with Grammarsaurus scheme from Years 2-6. The scheme uses a morphological approach, moving beyond basic phonics to teach spelling by focusing on meaningful word parts (morphemes like prefixes, roots, and suffixes) to build confidence with longer words, complement phonics, and improve writing, using resources like flashcards and assessments to ensure a connected, research-informed curriculum.

Handwriting

Handwriting is taught using the Letter -join scheme with daily lesson in EYFS and KS1 and lessons 3 times a week in KS2. Children are taught the cursive style of handwriting from Year 2.