Context

Why was the Everybody Writes initiative of interest?
Clarendon Primary School view writing as integral to the cross-curricular journey that we have embarked on. We have embedded a holistic and creative approach to promoting writing for pleasure into our policies, vision and practice. We wanted Everybody Writes to be a series of linked activities that would create a lasting impact on our schools approach to writing. Clarendon sought to promote writing in other areas of the curriculum as we realised that writing is fundamental to achievement in all subjects. Moreover, we believe that curriculum delivery should serve to integrate two important things: the development of writing independence and the promotion of writing for pleasure.

Has your school previously been involved in a writing initiative?
At Clarendon we are always involved in writing initiatives as we believe that enjoyment in writing is the key to success across the whole curriculum. Some examples of these are:

Little Laureates
The competition motivated our pupils to write and appreciate poetry. It boosted awareness of the school’s creative ability. It supported the Every Child Matters Enjoy and Achieve Outcome and kick started the Government’s National Year of Reading. Several children were chosen to have their work published in a book.

The Big Green Poetry Machine
The aim of the Big Green Poetry Machine competition was to encourage children in our school think about the environment and the impact that humans were having on it. Eco-kids at Clarendon used the power of words to tell us how we can save the world and make it a better place. Several children were chosen to have their work published in a book.

Mini Sagas
This writing competition challenged our children’s creativity. Mini S.A.G.A.S. (Smart Adventurous Gripping Amusing Stories) were written by pupils and several children were chosen to have their work published in a book.

Book Week
Children’s Book Week is a celebration of reading for pleasure for children of primary school age. Children’s Book Week 2008 took place from 6-12 October. Children from year one through to year six worked extremely hard on a series of books that a child from every class contributed to.

Aims of the Project

• Raise the profile of writing in the school
• Provide a real audience for writing - therefore :incentive for writing (knowing it will be read - parents, teachers, the community and beyond)
• Taking words off the page and into other environments/spaces - writing can be anywhere.

In Practice

The planning stages of the Everybody Writes project were a huge success. Working in a large primary school it is not always possible to run whole school initiatives and meet regularly as a whole staff. The Everybody Writes project provided this opportunity. It was a chance for the whole school to come together and work towards a common goal.

Our starting point was finding a day in the school diary that was not already scheduled for existing obligations. We decided on Thursday 19th March 2009. We organised the day so that it would coincide with a “Theme Week” thus reinforcing the ‘Creative Journey’ that we were about to embark on. Both Key Stage One and Key Stage Two are currently working on a creative curriculum. This is a carefully planned, thematic approach to teaching and learning designed to support children’s natural curiosity and stimulate their creativity. It offers children the opportunity to work in depth, giving them the time they need to reflect, consolidate and transfer their learning.

During the spring term KS1’s theme was ‘Pirates’ and KS2’s theme was ‘Under the Sea’. During the staff meeting all staff worked together to create a mind map of different ideas based on the two themes.

Key Stage One ideas:

• Treasure hunt clues
• Pirate hall display
• Pirate menu/recipes
• Treasure chest
• Pirate talk speech
• Pirate poems
• Word wall
• Eye patches/telescopes/bandanas etc
• Pirate party
• Maps

Key Stage Two ideas:

• Treasure maps
• Mermaids/mythical creatures
• Yellow submarine
• Fish mobiles
• Messages in a bottle
• Treasure map
• Postcards from Nemo
• Fish shape poems

Once the ideas for the day were established we set about inviting parents/governors and people from the local community. The SIP also attended the event and the ‘Clarendon Carers’ organised a café and cake sale that parents, children and staff could attend throughout the course of the day.

The aim of the day was that children across the whole school would be actively engaged in numerous writing activities, out of their seats and out of the classroom.

Outcomes

One of the aims of the Everybody Writes project was to “Take words off the page and into other environments/spaces - writing can be anywhere”.
We feel that this was most definitely achieved throughout the course of the day.

Pupil perspective

“Everybody Writes Day enabled me to be creative. I really enjoyed it and hope that we do something like it again soon.”

“During Everybody Writes Day I had a lot of fun and I learn a lot. I liked writing in the sand.”

Staff perspective

“The Everybody Writes Day was really successful. It was lovely to forget about the curriculum for the day and participate in fun writing activities. The children that usually find writing quite challenging were able to access a range of tasks appropriate to their level. The boys in particular loved seeing sea explorers for the day; writing and drawing treasure maps; directions to the treasure and postcards home. The day really captured their imagination and the whole class produced some fabulous work.” Miss Cooney - Year 4 Teacher

“What a day! I am exhausted, but it was so worth it.” Miss Hignett - Year 6 Teacher/Literacy Co-ordinator

Legacy
Since completing the Everybody Writes project we are consistently looking for alternative methods to engage and enthuse the children at our school.
Now not only do we share children’s writing in the traditional manner:

• Displays in: school / hall / classroom / library
• Assemblies
• School website
• Arts week / parents evening
• School newsletters

We are beginning to use multimedia to help us share children’s writing:

• Scanning / typing up pieces of children’s writing and adding them onto a school website
• Adding writing produced in class into a school newsletter
• Making a class / school weblog.
• Sending examples of children’s writing to the local newspaper

A testament to the success of the programme can be seen in the case of the less keen writers. Some, particularly boys, were quite reluctant at the start of the day, but the staff at Clarendon were able to engage every child equally.

Are there any areas for development arising from the project?
The project has highlighted the need to celebrate writing more often. Direct experience needs to be placed at the centre of the curriculum so that we draw out and develop children’s thinking and capacities in meaningful contexts. The day encouraged the children to become autonomous and independent

If you were to run the project again, would you do anything differently?
The Everybody Writes project was a huge success. As all staff participated in the planning and organisation of the project, it created a real sense of ownership.

If we were to run this or another project again, we would perhaps run the project over the course of a week as opposed to just one day. However, most classes extended the time frame originally suggested as the children were so engaged in the tasks it would have been a shame to return back to the time table just for the sake of it.

How could other schools benefit from the project?
Other schools would benefit from sharing Clarendon’s Everybody Writes experiences simply by seeing how easy it was to do.  In order to ensure staff engagement, we felt it appropriate that all staff participated in all aspects of the planning and organisation.

What resources would you like to see developed as an outcome of your project?
We hope to continue to provide a wide range of first-hand experiences offered both within the school and beyond.

 

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