"There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story you never quite know where they’ll take you." Beatrix Potter

What is a world without stories? Without adventure? Without a world to escape to? What would our world be without writers? At Madresfield, writers are born.

With a curriculum that is built around rich language and stories, tiny embers of ideas are ignited: empowering and inspiring the children's imagination and bringing it to life. By providing key, foundational skills of the English language, we enable our children to develop a unique, authors voice that is proudly heard in both our own world and others far, far away. 

Madresfield's map to proficient writers

The first steps to become a successful writer:

• consistency of approach
• gross and fine motor skills
• secure, systematic progression in phonics learning
• direct modelling of good writing
• providing a chance to repeat and practice 
• ensuring access to high-quality and diverse text

In EYFS I am 4, school is big and I am small but I am so ready to learn! I am a tiny talker; a mini mark maker and I have endless stories to draw and play. I can make shapes that I think are letters and I am trying really hard to write my name. I am learning phonics every day, my letters now are beginning to form sounds! I know enough now that my writing is phonetically plausible - I have so many stories to tell!

I can: 

• use a range of small tools competently and confidently like: pencils, paint brushes, scissors and knives.
• write short sentences with words with known sound- letter correspondences, using a capital letter and a full stop.
• develop the foundations of a handwriting style which is fast, accurate and efficient.
• use a tripod grip.

KS1 already? Not only have I grown, I can read words better than ever before, phonics really helps with that! My stories sound like the one's I play and hear. I can use full stops and capital letters, I even know who and what I am writing for. The best bit? Words. Words that bring my writing to life. I practice all the time: my letter formation; grammar that helps my writing make sense; more complex diagraphs and trigraphs that help me spell words that I once could only speak!

I can: 

• Write for a given purpose – to inform, instruct and or entertain
• Write for a variety of audiences
• Use taught skills to bring my writing alive
• Use ambitious vocabulary
• Spell words correctly
• Write in cursive font
• Use a range of sentence structures
• Evaluate my writing and respond to given feedback

KS2, my final destination. No longer learning to write. I am a writer! My ideas have changed, my imagination maturing. I am skilled in allowing my voice to be heard. I have an author's voice now, my own way of writing, my own flair. For the past four years I have heard words that once I didn't understand, now I use them. I choose and use punctuation effectively; to control my reader. I've learnt spelling rules: I no longer rely on phonics, I've become quite the expert in the English language. I write with speed and stamina and my writing is joined and legible. 

I can: 

• write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences
• describe settings, characters and atmosphere
• integrate dialogue in narratives to convey character and advance the action 
• select vocabulary and grammatical structures that reflect what the writing requires
• use verb tenses consistently and correctly 
• use the range of punctuation taught at key stage 2
•  spell correctly most words and use a dictionary to check the spelling of more ambitious vocabulary
• maintain legibility in joined handwriting when writing at speed

It's time for new adventures, Year 7 awaits:  more texts, more words and more to learn. I am a writer and a reader and because of that my journey is just beginning!