Helping your child in writing

At Caterham, we realize the importance of children being able to express themselves clearly, accurately and fluently in writing for a range of purposes. In this world of texts, emails and social networking sites, it’s easy to forget that good writing skills are still a necessity in many areas of life. Not to mention national examinations, which require students to write in an extended way to an increasing degree in all subjects.

All teachers are committed to giving students opportunities to produce extended writing in class and at home. Teachers teach students how to construct their writing for a range of purposes and this work is often displayed or published so that others can appreciate it. Students are continually made aware of the requirements and expectations for successful writing.

All teachers follow a marking for Literacy policy that is available to see here.

Pupils are expected to copy up correct spellings of words they have spelt incorrectly at the back of their books three times.

So what can parents do to improve children’s writing skills?

  • Read your child’s exercise books with them and discuss the writing they have done.
  • be an audience for their writing, feeding back on the impact their writing has had on you
  • take an interest in what they write in other subject areas at school
  • share newspaper, magazine articles or web texts that are written in interesting or engaging ways and explore how they might use these ideas in their own writing.
  • Spontaneous spelling tests are a good idea, especially on long car journeys!
  • encourage them to write to influence people through posting or emailing their reactions and ideas on current affairs and local issues, for example, emailing politicians, commenting or having their own blog, writing for a community, sports or other interest group newsletter or website
  • encourage them to continue to write for pleasure in whatever form they enjoy and experiment further, for example:
  • extend fiction writing to drafting a script for a play or film
  • find opportunities to talk with authors or journalists about their craft through writers’ websites
  • write and publish critical reviews, for example, of films, video or computer games, sporting events.