Writing 

Across the Lime Trust, we recognise that our approach to writing needs to be flexible enough to suit the context of each school community and the learners within it, ensuring it is inclusive for all.  Writing genres are planned sequentially to ensure they are revisited across the academic year and the complexity of genres and the skills within them are built upon year on year.  The length of time spent on a writing genre is dependent upon the complexity of the skills being taught within it.   

The Lime Trust writing approach incorporates a range of high-quality approaches to ensure the core pedagogy adopted by the Trust is embedded.  Across the Trust, the expectation is that all lessons and subjects are built around these core pedagogical approaches including: Retrieval, Modelling, Questioning, Deliberate practice and Feedback. 

Mastery  

As part of the Lime Trust writing approach, we ensure the number of text types are reduced, enabling pupils to master the grammatical structures.  All text types are revisited over the academic year to further enable the mastery of specific genres and in turn, reduce cognitive overload.  

Outcomes  

Prior to planning a writing unit, teachers should focus on what the intended outcome of the unit is.  Based on prior assessment, core skills will be built into the planning to ensure gaps in learning are addressed and explicitly taught.  The purpose of the genre should be clear: is the aim of the writing to inform, entertain or persuade?  There should also be clarity around the subject, audience and purpose of the writing.   

Modelled text and WAGOLL (What a good one looks like)  

Once the outcomes are clear, it is good practice to have a modelled text which incorporates the outcomes of the unit.  This can be used to scaffold learning for the pupils, ensuring skills are explicitly taught. The modelled text should be pitched above the pupils’ level and has built into it the underlying, transferable structures and language patterns that students will need when they are writing.  The model text can be referred to, adapted and developed throughout the unit.    

Oracy and Experience days  

Oracy is a vital ingredient at the beginning of the unit and can be further developed throughout.  The modelled text should be learned, and this can be done using a ‘writing map’ and actions to strengthen memory and help students internalise the text. Activities such as drama and experience days are used to deepen understanding of the text and provide a creative ‘hook’ and memorable moments, which engages the pupils and deepens the understanding of enjoyment, audience and purpose.  

Writing in the moment   

During the first phase of teaching when pupils are being taught the skills and developing the grammatical patterns, they are encouraged to stay within a key moment of the piece or plot.  This links closely to our pedagogical approach, ensuring pupils are not cognitively overloaded, focusing on a particular element within the story.  Pupils can develop and extend their ideas whilst continuing to stay within the plot they are writing about.  Pupils’ writing can be displayed and celebrated throughout the process on the working wall, recreating a developed and improved class version of the modelled writing.  

Independent writing  

Through the initial stage of the writing, pupils will have built the skills and grammatical patterns needed to create their own version on a new subject.  Teachers will support pupils through the planning of this, referring to the previous taught content.  This will lead to pupils writing their own version independently.  The editing process will be embedded throughout the independent write based on teacher and peer feedback, enabling pupils to improve their writing and develop the accuracy of it.  Pupils will use the text structure and writing tools to write, drawing on the model, their wider reading and experience so that they are writing independently at a high level.  

Assessment frameworks  

At the end of a writing unit, the pupils spend quality time planning, writing and editing their own story or text. This piece of text is then assessed against year group expectations using assessment frameworks. This helps class teachers to see where children have been successful and where they may need additional support.