The primary English team offer the following programmes which may be used to improve outcomes for underserved learners.
Addressing the Disadvantage Gap: primary English project - writing
Through face-to-face training, a consultancy visit, and a webinar, explore ways to adapt writing provision within whole class settings for children currently experiencing disadvantage, who have gaps in learning.
How does this project support schools in closing the disadvantage gap?
This project focuses on a small number of children, currently in receipt of the Pupil Premium Grant and chosen by the participating school and targets their gaps in writing through precision teaching. Their current written work is used to unpick barriers to attainment and identify ‘next steps’ needed to close gaps in learning. On the consultancy visit, an adviser will work with the children, modelling strategies that teachers can embed into their own classroom practice. A three-week rolling programme structure supports continued ‘small steps’ improvements for these individuals and provides a model for extending approaches with other children and other classes.
How can the Addressing the Disadvantage Gap project support learners currently experiencing disadvantage?
This project focuses on the individual, ensuring that they are enabled to experience success and understand the steps they need to take to overcome aspects of writing that they find challenging – one small thing at a time. Through this project, and to support teachers with incorporating gap-closing approaches into ongoing teaching, we share the following:
- Strategies to enable independence, autonomy and agency
- Inclusive practices that develop progress for the few but will benefit the many
- Targeted precision teaching in order to overcome barriers to improve attainment
Implementing the project in your school
During the face to face project launch, we will explore how aspects such as self-esteem, status and a sense of belonging need to be nurtured in order for academic achievement to be enhanced. Holistic and whole-community approaches can be shared across the age-range in school while precise teaching focus is (at first) concentrated on a few pre-identified learners.
This project is run as repeated rounds across the different areas within Hertfordshire with schools being invited to attend. This is so that teachers and leaders do not have to travel too far and, should they wish to, schools can continue to share outcomes and discuss approaches with their neighbours. Schools that have taken part in earlier rounds of the project have chosen to extend it across their age-ranges once approaches have been embedded in the class or classes originally worked with.
For further information contact: Michelle.Nicholson@hfleducation.org or Kayleigh.Valentini@hfleducation.org
There have been some real successes in my class in particular, as it's been the focus class across the school raising that self esteem. And I also think that status within the class community has improved.
Y4 teacher
Because of the impact that I've found that it's had, we're going to run it across the school from September.
Y1 teacher
Winning at Writing KS2: Raising writing standards in Years 4/5
This innovative and sharply focused programme, drawing upon our highly successful approaches in reading fluency, is designed to support teachers of writers in Years 4 and 5 to meet age-related expectations in word and phrase choice, sentence structure and overall composition.
How can the Winning at Writing KS2 programme aims support disadvantaged learners?
The programme aims centralise upon improving KS2 writing outcomes for children whose writing:
- Has too little or too much detail
- Is repetitive or lacking in cohesion
- Demonstrates an insecure grasp of sentence structure
- Lacks a sense of direction, purpose and audience
- Is produced reluctantly and without pleasure
The fully planned and resourced programme of writing units are designed to support teachers to develop children’s writerly knowledge, improve writing skills and motivation, particularly for those who struggle with independent writing.
The lessons are designed to be delivered as whole class teaching or used for targeted support with groups. As such, this programme has the potential to support whole school development of writing.
More information: Winning at Writing KS2
I think one of my biggest takeaways is how engaging and encouraging this has been for my usually reluctant writers…they're happier taking risks and trying new writing techniques and it's been almost a missing puzzle piece and all of a sudden other things like paragraphs that I haven't even mentioned as part of this are now being used.
Joanna Marfleet, Wicklewood Primary School and Nursery School, Wymondham.
Fixing Full Stops across KS2
An innovative programme using tried and tested techniques to support children to improve sentence structure and demarcation in KS2.
Fixing Full Stops Across KS2 provides you with the skills and subject knowledge to support your KS2 pupils to be able to write correctly demarcated sentences within their writing. The focus is on securing their foundational knowledge in this important area of learning. The training supports your school to ensure there is a consistent approach to the teaching of sentence structure and a clear progression in children’s sentence writing skills from Y1 through to Y6. Video footage of ‘teaching in action’ is used throughout the training to help exemplify good practice.
How does the Fixing Full Stops across KS2 programme aim to support disadvantaged learners?
The programme aims centralise upon improving KS2 writing outcomes for children who have yet to secure their understanding of how to write correctly structured sentences using end of sentence punctuation. There is a focus on our most vulnerable learners as we provide practical strategies that not only support with their concept of a sentence but also with their independence, motivation and self-regulation when writing.
The unit plan is designed to be delivered through whole class teaching or could be used for targeted support with groups. As such, this programme has the potential to support whole school development of writing.
Why choose to implement Fixing Full Stops across KS2 in your school?
Teachers reflecting on the impact of the programme noted the following benefits:
- The nature of the practical strategies were motivational and engagement from children with the writing process increased
- There was increased accuracy in children’s use of correctly structured sentences
- Teacher subject knowledge around the teaching of sentence structure and the writing process increased
- Teachers and children alike loved the text used as a basis for the 2 week unit plan
- Children were able to proof read their writing with increased accuracy
For more information: Fixing Full Stops across KS2
