‘The Writing Framework’ (DfE) – summary

What does the guidance include?

The Writing Framework is split into eight main sections (along with an introduction, glossary and bibliography).

The sections are:

Section 1: The importance of writing and a conceptual model – this is an overview of why there is an emphasis on teaching writing and supporting children to write fluently. It also covers the links between reading and writing, and writing and speaking, alongside the challenges of writing, managing cognitive load and motivation to write.

Section 2: The importance of reception – this section explains how early writing skills are important for later writing education, that they build a foundation. It gives EYFS staff specific guidance on teaching writing and opportunities for writing practice – alongside the importance of speech, language and reading in supporting writing development. There is also guidance on how to make judgements against the early learning goal (ELG) for writing, the ‘expected level’ of writing development for this phase.

Section 3: Transcription, handwriting and spelling – this section covers the national curriculum and early years objectives for handwriting and spelling, with guidance on teaching these and why they are important aspects of writing. There is also a section on supporting children with the physical demands of handwriting, recognising this can be a challenge for handwriting development that requires specific support. Within the spelling section, there are different strategies covered, such as phonics, orthography, morphology and etymology as well as guidance on assessing spelling.

Section 4: Composition – this section covers more of the writing objectives from the curriculums such as those on grammar, punctuation, vocabulary and sentence structure, as well as guidance on supporting pupils to understand sentences and structure their writing. It also covers establishing the audience for and purpose of writing (writing in different styles and contexts for different readers and reasons) and talks about the ‘writing process’. The writing process is broken down into planning, drafting, revising, editing and sharing – and there are examples of what each of these phases should look like in key stage one and key stage two. The section also talks about the importance of giving regular feedback to help pupils improve their writing and their motivation for writing.

Section 5: Pupils who need the most support – this section focuses on identifying and supporting pupils who need the most support in their writing. It looks at the signs pupils may be struggling with writing and ways you can provide targeted support in specific areas, such as handwriting, spelling, composition and language. To aid this further, it also includes an example case study of a child without an identified SEND need. Following this, it gives information and guidance for supporting pupils some specific SEND needs in their writing, including: developmental language disorder (DLD),  dyslexia, developmental coordination disorder/dyspraxia. Pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) are mentioned briefly but there is little support given here for readers on how to help these pupils.

Section 6: Writing across the curriculum – this section explains the importance of writing opportunities across the wider curriculum and not limiting opportunities for writing practice and feedback on writing to English lessons. The main coverage in this section however, is on the transition from writing in key stage two to key stage three. Here, it covers that the objective of the document is to help get pupils ready for secondary school and shares how to identify and support pupils who need extra help as they transition into secondary school  (with information from The Education Endowment Foundation).

Section 7: Leadership and management of writing – this section focuses on the role of the headteacher in quality writing education within their school and how they can create a ‘positive writing culture’. It includes suggestions such as ‘building a team of expert teachers’,  ‘developing an effective writing curriculum’ and considering using ‘writing programmes’. It also talks about the headteacher’s responsibility in ensuring progress, proper assessment and ‘getting writing right in reception’.

‘Section 8: National assessments – This section explains the current literacy assessments in early years and primary (with some links to more information), including the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP); Phonics Screening Check (PSC); key stage 1 assessments; key stage 2 assessments; teacher assessment framework for writing; and the English grammar, punctuation and spelling test. 2

There are also nine appendices: Handwriting guidance; Morpheme Matrices; Selecting model texts; Examples of sentence structure activities; Sentence examples aligned with the grammar and punctuation in the national curriculum; Progression of the writing process; Strategies for developing children’s awareness of the reader; Models for whole-text structures; and Cohesion. These are different examples, resources and further bits of guidance to support the document.