English Writing

Writing at Richmond Hill

Subject Lead: Ben Lodge

"You can make anything by writing."

- C.S.Lewis

At Richmond Hill, writing is taught using the 'Opening Doors' approach from Year two onwards. This approach places high-quality literature at the heart of the curriculum, using challenging texts to inspire and elevate children's writing. Rather than limiting children to texts deemed "age-appropriate," our teachers select literature that offers richness and depth. We believe in exposing children to sophisticated vocabulary, complex sentence structures, and nuanced themes from an early age. Our writing curriculum is an ambitious one but one which celebrates inclusivity and diversity.

Teaching Approach

Each writing unit is structured around carefully selected quality texts that serve as "doors" to deeper learning:

• Teachers begin lessons by presenting children with challenging extracts, using access strategies where necessary to support all learners.

• Students engage in exploratory talk about these texts, discussing language features, literary techniques and the impact on the reader.

• Teachers guide this process through carefully crafted questions that develop critical thinking and pupil engagement.

• Writing tasks emerge organically from these deep text explorations.

Pupil Voice

In a recent writing review, pupils were asked their thoughts on our writing lessons. Below are some of their responses.

“It [writing] opens up my heart and my mind. Reading link texts helps me to wander into different mindsets as sometimes I think I have a good idea but then the more I read, the more things I think of how to make my idea better. Reading link texts with context has made me think about characters’ back stories and now when I am writing stories, I know what my characters have been through and how they feel. This is what a good writer does.”

“It has encouraged me to read new things. It has extended my knowledge of vocabulary – especially Wuthering Heights. That was confusing at first but when we read it a few times with context, it began to make sense and I could use some of the ideas in my writing such as how Emily Bronte emphasised things. I love reading all the link texts as there is always one that reaches out to me.”

“Reading these link texts are the first time that I have felt certain emotions through books.”