Context

Over the last couple of years, we have had concerns over the children’s interest and standards in writing and wanted to do something that would inspire them and enable them to see that they can write and that writing can be enjoyable. Where appropriate, we have taken part in writing competitions and also have internal activities to promote writing.

Aims & principles

• To inspire children to believe in themselves as writers
• To improve the majority of boys’ writing through the cross curricular and creative approach
• To create an environment that engages and encourages children to write independently

In Practice

After attending an Everybody Writes meeting on 3rd February 2009, we discussed some possible ideas for a one-off writing celebration, which were then discussed amongst teaching staff at a staff meeting. It was agreed that we would plan a one-off celebration to inspire the children to write.

To motivate the children and build enthusiasm and excitement, we decided to keep the day a secret and chose the theme of a possible alien visit/landing, as this gave plenty of scope for imagination and personal interpretation. We had also seen on the Everybody Writes website that this had been a success in other schools.

A further meeting was held with staff and teaching assistants to plan the day in more detail and make sure that everyone was happy with this suggestion. It was great to see such enthusiasm.

From this, we developed a rough timetable for the day, which outlined how the event was going to begin, how it was going to engage the children at different levels and how staff could work with the children to develop writing. The timetable is as follows:

Timetable for the day
8.50	All Staff to be present on the playground. Access to the Junior playground will be blocked off until this time by Site Manager, so that the children don’t interfere with the “evidence”. (The scene will be set up early in the morning before the children arrive at school.)
8.55	Children to be escorted to the hall for important assembly. (Drop off bags and coats quickly.)
9.05	Deputy Head to front assembly. All Staff to be present. Head meeting with ‘Officials’. 45mins approx. Infants to leave early if necessary. Individuals dressed as CIA members to pass by the hall doors in sight of the children to create discussion. Curtains then to be closed, so the children feel we are trying to hide something from them.  Assistant Head to download images to display to children of crash site, but also late night footage taken by TA who lives locally. Year 6 teacher to liaise with Deputy Head regarding role/comments. They are to have a minor dispute as to whether we should remain in school. Office admin to bring registers to the hall.
9.30	Site Manager to briefly cut power and inform assembly that kitchen is out of order. ‘Sensor’ lights will come on.
9.50	Class discussions – differentiated outcome
10.20	Infant play
10.35	LJ Play – infant playground (No access to Junior area whilst further investigations take place.)
10.45	UJ Play – infant playground (No access to Junior area whilst further investigations take place.)
Up to lunch	Class planning / activities Deputy Head and two other members of teaching staff to update all classes on developments, including bringing round a police officer to collect information. Year 6 class to be responsible for recording, labelling, bagging and transporting evidence to stage in hall before lunch.
11.55	Lunch as normal, but packed lunches. No hot meals due to power cut.
12.55	Writing activities of the classes’ choice.
2.20	Break as normal
2.30	Final assembly. Deputy Head to front. Each class to present their work.
3.00	Return to class for final debrief and collection of letters for parents, which will outline the intentions of the day.
3.20/3.30	End of school

The crime scene investigators, who were parent volunteers, stayed at the scene and then conducted further “tests” around the school.

We had initial concerns about keeping the scene believable, whilst not scaring the children, so we invited a local police officer into school. Her role was to also reassure the children that they were completely safe, but that they had to help her collect information in order to find out what had happened. We also invited a local journalist to make the event even more realistic.

As the timetable shows, time was given to writing, but this was of the children’s choice and strongly linked to talk, as outlined below:

Reception created “wanted” posters and wrote questions that they wanted to ask the visiting aliens, who they believed were friendly.

Year One children decided to create an alien language, which they wanted to use to communicate with the visitors. This was done independently and on a large scale, as they wrote messages on large pieces of paper out on the playground. They also completed descriptive writing of alien features.

Year Two designed and wrote newspaper articles. They also made a book of evidence, questions the aliens would ask us and a statement relating to what had happened.

Year Three wrote an alien poem and created alien speech bubbles highlighting what the aliens would have said. They also completed descriptive writing activities for the aliens, their craft and the scene discovered in school.

Year Four wrote initial statements relating to what they knew, where they had been the night before, etc. Following this, they collated evidence from around the school and from the internet and wrote an explanatory text for what they believed had happened. As a class, their explanations were used to create a photo story.

Year Five recorded their feelings throughout the day and created a class newspaper, which recorded the events and eyewitness accounts.

Year Six explored the scene and recorded their findings, before collecting the evidence and writing about how this helped them determine what had happened.

At the end of the day, the children shared their work in a whole school assembly. This was a celebration of their achievements and an opportunity for us to read to the children the letter they would be taking home that night, which explained that the day had been staged in order to help them write imaginatively. The children were quite surprised and the home time buzz was memorable.

Outcomes

Despite some initial worries amongst a small group of children, the most memorable outcome would have to be the enthusiasm and excitement from all the children and staff. The day absolutely flew by and the children needed no encouragement to put pen or pencil to paper. Children who are known for refusing to write actually did so and wanted to share their work.

We also feel that the day has enabled staff to see that through adopting a more creative approach, children will begin to enjoy writing. Hopefully, this is something that will remain evident in their weekly planning.

Finally, we feel that this day will be remembered by all involved for a long time to come.

As part of our practice, staff were asked to complete an impact sheet. Examples of their feedback are as follows:

Overall comment
“An amazing day that the children and staff enjoyed.”

What impact do you think the Everybody Writes Day had on the children in your class?
“Every single one of them was engaged and keen to talk and write about the events that they believed had happened. Their imaginations ran wild and they wanted to share this with other children and staff.

By the end of the day, they realised that they could write and that writing could be fun. Many of them wanted to continue their work at home, which highlights how much they benefited from the day.”

What impact do you think the Everybody Writes Day had on the school as a whole?
“It made writing a whole school focus with all staff clear on what they were trying to promote amongst the children. It brought staff together, for we were all part of creating this experience for the children and it brought out their own imaginative and enthusiastic qualities.”

What worked well?
“Creating a timetable for the day, for it provided enough structure for ataff without telling them what they had to do with their classes. Writing had to come from the children and not from the teacher.”

“Involving parents as CIA members and the local police officer and journalist, for it made the day real, but also safe.”

“Building in time to celebrate the children’s work, as this allowed them to show others what they had been doing, but also strenghten the school community, as we were all working for the same cause.”

How could this day have been improved?
“The day was a great success. The only thing I could think of changing would be how we let the parents know what the day would entail without ruining the necessary element of surprise. Though they were told at the end of the day what had been happening, a small number felt they should have known beforehand.”

Attitudes and attainment after the project

“I can’t wait to get home and tell my mum and dad about what’s been happening! Can I take my work to show them?” — Year 4 Boy

“This is just so exciting…I can’t believe how exciting this is!” — Reception Girl

Legacy

We wanted the children to enjoy the day and be keen to share their experiences at home with family members. We also anticipate holding similar days to celebrate writing in the future.

The buzz around the school would definitely benefit any enthusiastic establishment. It enabled the school to be totally creative and break from the restrictions we sometimes feel are imposed on us, which is definitely beneficial to both children and staff. The day was enjoyable and not onerous, but staff must be realistic about the time needed to prepare for this event.

Resources

• £320 of staff time in supply cover
• £100 for practical resources

Final thought

A very small minority of parents contacted the school after the event, expressing the view that the children should have received some prior warning to avoid feeling scared. As we never want the children to feel this way, we would certainly make sure that any future events take into consideration that some children may feel this way and all possible action taken to avoid this being the case.

To avoid the above, we would perhaps involve the parents and gain their thoughts and ideas about possible activities.

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