Writing

Provision and/or strategies: approaches, adjustments and specific interventions expected to be made by settings according to the ages and stages of the CYP

Universal

• Ensure staff understand the pre-requisite and foundational skills required for writing development, and how to teach them effectively across all phases (The writing framework).
• Ensure staff understand that writing is a complex process involving cognitive and physical components, including transcription (handwriting and spelling), text generation, and the executive functions and working memory that coordinate writing. (the Simple View of Writing; Berninger & Amtmann, 2003).
• Access relevant training (e.g. EPSS training) to strengthen subject knowledge and practice.
• Support early writing development through mark-making, drawing and oral storytelling, recognising talk as the foundation of writing.
• Deliver high-quality writing instruction through clearly sequenced, explicit teaching.
• Balance the teaching of transcription skills (handwriting, spelling) and composition (ideas, structure) and reduce transcription demands when they limit expression.
• Teach learners to write for a range of purposes and audiences, adapting tone, structure and content appropriately.
• Ensure pupils have sufficient opportunities to practise and develop competence over time.
• Set independent tasks that align with taught knowledge and skills.
• Provide purposeful, meaningful and engaging writing opportunities that are appropriately differentiated and scaffolded to promote motivation, confidence and success across developmental stages.
• Use meaningful, relevant contexts (including real-life and vocational tasks) to increase engagement.
• Build positive writing habits through choice, interest-based topics and purposeful outcomes.
• Support learners to manage cognitive load and reduce transcription demands by:
  • Using planning tools such as task plans, mind maps and visual organisers
  • Providing structured scaffolds (e.g. storyboards, labelling tasks, cloze activities, sentence starters, writing frames and word banks)
  • Modelling high-quality examples (e.g. WAGOLL)
  • Breaking tasks into manageable steps with clear endpoints
  • Using adapted materials and approaches (e.g. visual supports, modelling
• Identify and address any gross or fine motor difficulties that may impact writing, adapting provision as needed. See Physical and Sensory [HH1] section for more detail.
• Teach skills to fluency through regular, structured practice.
• Provide opportunities to apply and use skills across a range of contexts (e.g. across subjects, real-life and functional tasks) to support generalisation.
• Assess writing regularly to inform teaching, through
  • Observing learners during writing to identify difficulties (e.g. handwriting, spelling, composition)
  • Using approaches such as dictation to assess transcription independently from composition
  • Focusing feedback on specific, actionable next steps
  • Monitoring handwriting and spelling development systematically
• Use ongoing assessment to refine intervention focus and adjust support dynamically.
• Provide timely, specific and constructive feedback to support improvement.
• Teach proofreading, editing and revising strategies explicitly (e.g. checking spelling, punctuation, clarity and structure).
  • Use structured scaffolds (checklists, success criteria) to support this.
• Gradually reduce scaffolding to promote independence in planning, writing and reviewing.
• Ensure strong links between intervention and classroom or wider learning contexts so that staff and learners consistently apply and reinforce skills across contexts.
• Develop functional writing skills relevant to adulthood (e.g. forms, emails, applications, reports).

Targeted

• Identify specific barriers to writing (e.g. handwriting, spelling, sentence structure, idea generation) and distinguish between transcription (handwriting, spelling) and composition (ideas, structure) to plan targeted, individualised support such as:
  • Paired Writing - The School Psychology Service
  • Cambridgeshire: Writing Tool
• Teach and support the use of assistive technology (e.g. speech-to-text, word processing tools) to reduce barriers and increase independence.
• Use structured scaffolds (e.g. checklists, success criteria) to support editing and self-regulation.
• Support learners to manage cognitive load by using planning tools (e.g. task plans, mind maps, visual organisers) and structured scaffolds (e.g. storyboards, sentence starters, writing frames, word banks).
• Provide sentence rehearsal frames (e.g. I think..., because...).
• Allow verbal responses to be recorded by an adult or using a device.
• Provide symbols, images, or graphic organisers.
• Use drag-and-drop or sentence-building apps.