Ready, Steady, Write

At Hermitage Primary School, our writing curriculum is designed to provide a broad and balanced education that meets the needs of all children.

We follow the award-winning Ready Steady Write from Literacy Counts to develop confident, independent and successful writers with high aspirations. From Reception through to Year 6, the scheme provides an evidence-based, carefully sequenced approach that ensures the statutory writing curriculum is covered for each year group. Our curriculum is research-informed and designed to support all children to master foundational skills and write for a clear audience and purpose.

Each unit centres on a high-quality, vocabulary-rich text, providing children with engaging and meaningful reasons to write. Through immersion in literature, modelled and shared writing, structured talk, drama and vocabulary exploration, children learn to organise and express their ideas clearly and craft their writing with precision. Units also provide opportunities to develop vocabulary, teach contextualised spelling, grammar and punctuation, and write in a range of genres.

Each class completes 12 pieces of extended writing each year, following the writing process of Immerse, Analyse, Plan and Write, alongside regular opportunities for linked incidental writing. Children are given time to edit and improve their work, and published writing is displayed across the school to celebrate their achievements.

Sentence accuracy is a key feature of every writing lesson, enabling children to secure effective sentence construction and apply their foundational knowledge. This is taught progressively across the year and is closely linked to the focus text and the skills being developed within each unit.

Through this approach, we aim for every child, regardless of need, to write fluently, confidently and with pride. We want our pupils to leave primary school as enthusiastic writers, equipped with the skills and aspirations they need for the next stage of their education.