At Riversdale, our writing curriculum is designed to provide a broad, balanced and ambitious education that meets the needs of all children. From September 2026, we teach writing through Ready Steady Write from Literacy Counts, an award-winning, evidence-informed writing programme for EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
Our aim is for every child to become a confident, independent and successful writer. We want pupils to understand that writing is a powerful form of communication: a way to inform, entertain, persuade, explain, describe, reflect and express ideas. Through carefully chosen, vocabulary-rich texts, children are given meaningful reasons to write for a clear audience and purpose.
We value spoken language as a foundation for writing. Children are given regular opportunities to discuss ideas, rehearse sentences aloud, explore vocabulary, take part in drama and orally compose their writing before committing it to paper. This helps pupils organise their thoughts, develop their vocabulary and build confidence before writing independently.
Ready Steady Write gives the school a clear, consistent and progressive approach to the teaching of writing. Each unit is built around a high-quality text and follows a carefully sequenced writing journey. This enables children to read as writers, explore how authors make choices, practise key skills and then apply these skills in their own writing.
Across a unit, children move through the following stages:
Reception & Year 1:
Years 2 - 6:
Jump In/Immerse:
At the beginning of a unit, children are immersed in the core text, its themes, vocabulary and language structures. Teachers introduce key ideas, explore new vocabulary and provide opportunities for discussion, drama and oral rehearsal. Children begin to understand the context for writing and the purpose of the final written outcome.
During this stage, pupils may:
Look/Analyse:
Children then look closely at the model text and the type of writing they are working towards. They learn how writers use vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure and organisation to create meaning and impact. Teachers make these choices explicit so that children understand not only what writers do, but why they do it.
During this stage, pupils may:
Plan:
Before writing extended pieces, children are taught how to plan effectively. Planning is not simply filling in a template; it is the process of organising ideas, selecting vocabulary and deciding how the writing will be structured for the reader. Teachers model how to make decisions as a writer and how to prepare for successful independent writing.
During this stage, pupils may:
Write:
Children then apply what they have learned through modelled, shared, guided and independent writing. Teachers model the writing process carefully, thinking aloud so pupils can see how writers make choices, improve sentences and check for accuracy. Shared writing allows the class to compose together before children move towards increasing independence.
During this stage, pupils are taught to:
What Writing Lessons Look Like Day to Day
Writing is taught explicitly and systematically. Lessons are carefully structured so that pupils build knowledge and confidence over time. Although lessons vary depending on the year group, text and stage of the unit, children will typically experience:
Teachers use working walls to support pupils throughout a writing unit. These may include vocabulary, modelled examples, sentence structures, grammar reminders, planning notes and shared writing. This gives pupils a clear visual record of the learning journey and supports them to work with increasing independence.
Supporting All Writers
We believe that every child can become a successful writer. Ready Steady Write provides a consistent structure while allowing teachers to adapt lessons to meet the needs of their class.
Teachers support pupils through:
Children with SEND, pupils with English as an additional language, disadvantaged pupils and those who find writing more difficult are supported to access the same ambitious curriculum through appropriate scaffolding. The aim is always to maintain high expectations while removing barriers to successful writing.
For pupils who are ready to go further, teachers provide opportunities to deepen thinking, make more precise vocabulary choices, vary sentence structures, write with greater control and consider the impact of their writing on the reader.
Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling
Grammar and punctuation are taught both explicitly and in context. Children learn how grammatical choices help writers communicate meaning. Rather than learning grammar as a separate exercise only, pupils are taught how to apply grammar and punctuation within real writing.
Sentence accuracy is a key part of our approach. Pupils regularly practise writing accurate sentences, improving sentences and checking their work carefully. This helps children develop fluency and confidence before moving into longer pieces of writing.
Spelling is taught systematically and is reinforced through writing. Children are encouraged to apply their spelling knowledge in all written work and to develop increasing accuracy over time. See below for more information.
Editing and Improving Writing
Children are taught that writing is a process. First attempts are valued, but pupils are also expected to reread, reflect and improve their work. Editing is taught explicitly so that children know how to check for accuracy and improve the quality of their writing.
Depending on their age and stage, pupils may edit for:
Teachers model editing so that children understand how writers improve their work with care and precision.
Assessment in Writing
Assessment is ongoing and informs teaching. Teachers use what they see in lessons, pupils’ responses, sentence accuracy work, independent writing and final written outcomes to identify strengths and next steps.
Teachers assess whether pupils can:
Writing is moderated within school so that teachers have a shared understanding of expectations and progression. Leaders monitor writing through book looks, lesson visits, pupil voice, assessment information and professional discussion with teachers.
At Riversdale Primary School, we believe that all children should to take pride in the presentation of their writing, including the development of a legible, cursive, individual handwriting style by the time they move to secondary school. To support this goal, we adopted the cursive Letter Join handwriting scheme in November 2024. As part of this, children are taught letter formation which includes a lead in and lead out mark. This decision has been made in order to reduce cognitive load for children, as all lowercase letters will start on the line, thus reducing a child's need to think about where to begin writing.
Children will begin learning to write through the development of gross/fine motor skills, drawing prewriting shapes, mark making and letter formation families in Early Years. This transitions to joined letters in Year 2, with the ultimate goal of clear, legible and joined handwriting by Year 6. In order to ensure children make rapid progress in this area, they undertake either an explicit teaching of handwriting including modelling and application, or a practise activity based on prior learning, as the starter of every writing lesson.
We actively focus on the three Ps - Posture, Pen(cil) and Paper - across the school, to support pupils in being well prepared for quality handwriting. Pupils are taught what adjustments, in relation to these, are required depending on whether they are right or left-handed and the school plans pupil seating carefully to ensure left-handed pupils are sat on the left of the desk, thus providing them with the necessary space.
At Riversdale, we aim to create a positive culture around spelling, where pupils develop the confidence and resilience necessary for academic success. From Reception to Year 2, spelling is taught through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised scheme, in which pupils focus on segmenting decodable words using taught grapheme/phoneme correspondences, as well as memorising a range of common "tricky" words.
From Year 3, our spelling curriculum is designed to provide a broad and balanced education that meets the needs of all children. We follow the award-recognised Ready Steady Spell by Literacy Counts to ensure that all pupils become fluent, accurate spellers. Our spelling curriculum is research-informed and impact-proven, helping children secure the essential skills and strategies they need to spell confidently across the curriculum. Through engaging activities, consistent teaching routines and regular opportunities to revisit prior learning, we help children move spelling knowledge into their long-term memory. Our aim is to build confident writers who are equipped with the tools they need to communicate clearly and effectively. Spelling is taught in a clear and systematic way, with regular reviews and assessments. Additional support is provided through Ready Steady Spell: Go sessions, which offer targeted intervention for pupils who need further consolidation.
By the time children leave Riversdale, we want them to see themselves as writers. They should be able to write clearly, accurately and confidently for a range of audiences and purposes. They should understand how writers make choices and be able to apply this knowledge in their own work.
Our pupils will:
At our school, the writing curriculum is underpinned by our teaching and learning policy, which is rooted in cognitive science and evidence-informed practice. This ensures that we not only meet the expectations set out in the DfE’s Writing Framework (July 2025), but go beyond them in key areas, providing a rigorous, well-structured, and ambitious writing education for all pupils.
Please find our English policies below:
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