Writing
At Arden Forest Infant School, we want every child to see themselves as a writer with ideas worth sharing. Children arrive in Reception with varied experiences and starting points, so we build strong foundations while giving them interesting things to think, talk and write about. In our caring school community, we aim for every child to feel Included, Inspired and Successful.
Writing begins with language. Children listen to stories, explore new vocabulary, ask questions and rehearse their ideas aloud before putting them on paper. From Reception, we explicitly teach letter formation, handwriting and spelling through phonics. We help children become confident in constructing sentences so that, as these skills grow more secure, they can give more attention to what they want to say.
Our genre overview gives children opportunities to write for meaningful purposes, including to tell stories, describe, explain, recount and share information. High-quality stories, poetry and information books introduce them to different voices, places and experiences. As we continue to review and develop our writing curriculum, we aim to strengthen the progression from Reception to Year 2 and identifying where children need to revisit and apply what they have learned.
We recognise that some children need more time, practice or support, while others are ready to extend their ideas. Through modelling, discussion and purposeful opportunities to write, we help each child take their next step. We want children to leave Arden Forest able to communicate their thoughts clearly, take pride in their work and enjoy the possibilities writing gives them.
Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG)
At Arden Forest Infant School, we teach spelling, punctuation and grammar explicitly from KS1 so that children gain the knowledge they need to express their ideas clearly. Children arrive with varied starting points in language and literacy. Our discrete SPaG lessons give every child extra time to learn, practise and revisit these foundations before applying them in their own writing.
Our punctuation and grammar teaching begins with spoken language and an understanding of what makes a sentence. In Year 1, children learn to leave spaces between words, use capital letters and choose full stops, question marks and exclamation marks. They explore nouns, verbs and adjectives, and begin to join ideas using and. In Year 2, they develop this knowledge by writing different sentence types, expanding noun phrases, choosing between past and present tense, and connecting ideas with words such as but, because and when. They also learn to use commas in lists and apostrophes for contractions and singular possession.
Teachers model each new concept, explain the language used to discuss it and give children opportunities to practise through talk, short writing tasks and dictated sentences. Regular review helps children recall earlier learning and use it with increasing independence. We then encourage them to apply their punctuation and grammar in the stories, descriptions and information writing they produce across the curriculum.
As we continue to develop our writing curriculum, we are strengthening the links between what children learn in SPaG lessons and how they use that knowledge to communicate. Our aim is for every child to leave Arden Forest able to write sentences that convey their meaning and to feel confident sharing their ideas.
Handwriting
At Arden Forest Infant School, we want every child to write legibly, comfortably and with growing fluency. When letter formation becomes familiar and automatic, children can give more attention to their spelling, sentences and ideas. This helps them communicate confidently across the curriculum.
Children arrive at Arden Forest with different experiences and starting points. We provide explicit, carefully sequenced handwriting teaching from Reception through Year 2, alongside rich opportunities to develop physical control through play and practical activity. In Reception, children learn the movements needed to form letters accurately. In Year 1, they secure non-cursive letter formation and develop consistent sizing and spacing. In Year 2, children continue to build fluency and begin to learn joins when their un-joined letters are formed correctly and consistently.
We teach handwriting separately from phonics, while helping children use what they learn in both. Shared routines, clear adult modelling, regular practice and timely support help every child make progress. Our aim is for children to leave Arden Forest feeling Included, Inspired and Successful, with the handwriting foundations they need to express themselves and thrive in their next stage of education.
