We deliver English throughout the school using Pie Corbett’s Talk for Writing approach. By focussing on the oral retelling of various text types, familiar structures become fully embedded in the long term memory so that the children can later apply these structures to their own writing whilst developing the language techniques taught for the particular area of focus.

Talk for Writing is powerful because it enables children to imitate the language they need for a particular topic orally before reading and analysing it and then writing their own version.  It is built on three stages of teaching:

1) Imitation – the children learn a text and the language they need

2) Innovation – the children adapt the model text with ideas of their own

3) Invention – the children create their own text using the language and skills that the model taught them.

During the initial ‘imitation‘ stage of Talk for Writing, a text (fiction and non-fiction) is introduced and read to the children. Together they learn to tell the story off by heart. To help them remember the text a multi-sensory approach is used. They retell a text with expression and actions and use a visual story map to support their retelling. As children learn the text word for word, they  build up a bank of interesting vocabulary, phrases and types of plot which they can then use in their own writing. The principle is that if a child can tell a story, they will be able to write a story.

Once the story is learnt, children are encouraged to adapt it. At this ‘innovation‘ stage, children make the story their own. They could start with a simple change of character or for older children it may involve telling the story from a different view point. They will make changes to their story map and rehearse retelling their innovated story orally. They will then write out the innovated story in manageable sections and will receive feedback from the teacher. There is an opportunity to respond to this marking before they go on to write the next section. This very supportive and structured approach allows children to gain confidence and know what they need to do in order to get better.

The final stage is the ‘invention‘ stage where the children use all the skills they have learnt to write an independent piece. There is the freedom to draw upon their own ideas and experiences, or they can ‘hug closely’ to the shared text should they need to.

Our pupils are able to think and write creatively, they are adventurous in their vocabulary choices and write with a clear purpose and audience in mind. More than anything, we want our pupils to enjoy the process of writing and write for pleasure. We promote high standards of language and literacy and equip pupils with a strong command of the written and spoken word, as well as promoting a lifelong love of literature. Our children go out into the world as confident readers and writers; ready to engage with the world with purpose and enthusiasm.

Our curriculum prepares pupils for a life immersed in literature and ensures our children celebrate the joy of reading and writing.