English

Writing

Writing activities will aim to build upon the children’s growing awareness of differences in writing a range of fiction and non-fiction texts.

Children will further develop their writing strategies through exploring rich pieces of literature, composing writing for authentic purposes and drawing upon their own experiences.

At Black Rock we use the Big Write and VCOP (Vocabulary, Connectives, Openers and Punctuation) methodology to guide our teaching of writing. VCOP is based on the premise that ‘if they can’t say it, they can’t write it’. Learning is scaffolded in the classroom to allow children to become articulate thinkers and speakers, who in turn become articulate writers. It is a differentiated approach, allowing teachers to cater for varying needs. After completing a ‘Big Write’ children mark their own work using a criterion scale. This empowers the children by allowing them to analyse where their skill set lies, and specifically what steps they need to take in order to further their writing.

Handwriting

The children will continue to develop their handwriting skills, with a focus on the correct letter size, sloping, spacing and importantly, joining. We will be using the Write Well 3 handwriting book. Children will continue to write in grey lead. We ask that all homework is also completed in pencil. Our aim is for children to write in cursive script by the end of the year.

Speaking and Listening

Students will also be involved in informal discussions, small group discussions and formal presentations of project work. Being an active listener and asking relevant questions is also expected at this level and beyond.