English

What is ‘Talk for Writing’?

As part of our school priorities at St. John Fisher, we aim to raise the attainment of our pupils in writing through an engaging, relevant and rich curriculum. In order to support this we have joined a nationwide project called ‘Talk for Writing,’ which has a proven record of accelerating children’s learning.

Talk for Writing is split into three phases:

1. Imitation: telling the story

Imitation phase is when the children really get to know what text type they are going to be learning about. They learn a model text off by heart using a ‘text map’ to help them. Then they look at the structure, the language and other features that they need to know for their own writing.

2. Innovation: changing a story

This phase is when the teacher uses shared writing (writing as a class) to create a text that is very similar to the one they have just learnt in the imitation phase. Younger writers or less confident writers may need to stay close to the structure and the vocabulary used in the model text to build confidence and understanding. More confident writers will come away from the model text and want to explore their own ideas or ways of writing.  Within this phase we would also encourage children to ‘magpie’ good ideas/vocabulary to use in their own writing.

3. Independent application: writing my own story

This phase is when the children are expected to write independently and apply the skills they have learned. Their final piece of writing is called the ‘hot task’.  Typically, teachers work with the children to set ‘tickable targets’ (toolkit) which focus on aspects that they need to attend to followed by an opportunity to polish and publish their work.

How and why can ’Talk for Writing’ benefit pupils at St. John Fisher?

Talk for Writing is powerful because it enables children to imitate orally the language they need for a particular topic before reading and analysing it and then writing their own version .  Talk for Writing is very much dependent on the use of quality literature. Our school takes this very seriously and has invested in quality books for every year group. Teachers can use these alongside ‘model texts’, to develop pupil’s understanding of unfamiliar words and ambitious vocabulary which in turn will improve writing attainment.

What can you do to help?

1. Talk for Writing begins and ends with enjoying stories and reading books. Children who read for pleasure are more likely to succeed as writers because of the way in which reading develops language development. At St. John Fisher, we encourage all parents to read with their children every day, whatever their age or ability.  
2. Your child may bring home a story/text map to learn from time to time as part of their home learning.  Encourage your child to use their text map to retell the story they are learning in class.  

For more information about Talk for Writing visit the website

At St John Fisher we promote and encourage reading at every opportunity across the school. We believe that reading is the magical key that can unlock the door to a life long love of learning. We encourage pupils to read anywhere and everywhere! We recognise that the social environment can enhance our reading experience and we try to support this at every opportunity, adapting it to invite and encourage a love of reading.

At St John Fisher we value the importance of reading aloud to children. EYRS and KS1 have story time every day, across KS2, each class has a class novel, which they read with their class teacher during 'Reading for Pleasure'. There is considerable evidence that reading aloud to children enables them to process challenging content, text features and vocabulary – even in subjects not normally associated with reading aloud, such as science and technology (Heisley and Kukan 2010). Furthermore, reading to 4-5 year olds more frequently has been shown to lead to higher reading, maths and cognitive skills at age 8-9 (Kalb and van Ours, 2013). We also have other times during the class timetable, where the pupils have 'Reading for Pleasure', plus 'Guided Reading' sessions timetabled throughout the week. All pupils have the opportunity to take home two books a week, if they choose, their staff allocated reading book and a chosen book from the reading corner in class. 

Benefits to Reading for Pleasure (DfE)

There is a growing body of evidence which illustrates the importance of reading for pleasure for both educational purposes as well as personal development (cited in Clark and Rumbold, 2006).

• Evidence suggests that there is a positive relationship between reading frequency, reading enjoyment and attainment (Clark 2011; Clark and Douglas 2011).
• Reading enjoyment has been reported as more important for children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status (OECD, 2002).
• There is a positive link between positive attitudes towards reading and scoring well on reading assessments (Twist et al, 2007).
• Regularly reading stories or novels outside of school is associated with higher scores in reading assessments (PIRLS, 2006; PISA, 2009).
• International evidence supports these findings; US research reports that independent reading is the best predictor of reading achievement (Anderson, Wilson and Fielding, 1988).
• Evidence suggests that reading for pleasure is an activity that has emotional and social consequences (Clark and Rumbold, 2006).
• Other benefits to reading for pleasure include: text comprehension and grammar, positive reading attitudes, pleasure in reading in later life, increased general knowledge (Clark and Rumbold, 2006).

How to support your child with reading

Phonics

 At St John Fisher we follow the 'Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised' programme for the teaching of phonics across the school. 'Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised' is a phonics programme validated by the Department for Education. St John Fisher have trained all staff to effectively use these materials in the classroom. Please view the below video explaining how it works and how you can support your child further at home. 

Some possible guides for parents from the 'Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised' programme. 

For further information on the teaching of 'Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised' please view their parent page. 

Some videos from 'Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised', which may support phonics at home: