Writing

We believe that all children should be able to communicate effectively and accurately, both when writing and when speaking. At St John’s, we teach the craft of writing through quality texts: class ‘core books’.

Children in all year groups write from a given stimulus and for a range of purposes; these writing opportunities allow children to enter into the world of a character or respond to a moral or ethical problem that the book has introduced. 

Spelling

We follow the 'Essential Spelling' scheme, which supports children as they learn to spell and learn the spelling rules. Within these lessons, the children learn spelling patterns, rules, etymology, word families and memory tricks in order to learn to spell different words. The focus is on learning to spell rather than on simply 'testing' spelling. The children then receive weekly spellings to learn, which are based on the words/rule learnt in class that week.

Punctuation and Grammar

At St John’s, we believe that punctuation and grammar should be taught and learnt within the English lessons as it provides the structure for reading, writing and speaking. These elements are vital for literacy in life and they are taught, as much as possible, in context so that the children can see the relevance and the desired effect they have on the reader.

Handwriting

We teach St John’s cursive handwriting throughout the school. In Reception class, the children learn to form their letters, learning to join in KS1, and by Year 5, the children are working towards getting their ‘pen licence’, which is a highly sought-after achievement!