We use Development Matters and the Early Learning Goals (ELGs) for writing to guide our planning and ensure that children experience purposeful, progressive writing opportunities. These frameworks help us identify each child’s current stage of development and pinpoint their next steps. Using this knowledge, we design writing activities that build skills in a carefully sequenced way, allowing children to revisit, practise and deepen their learning over time. This approach ensures that every child is supported and challenged appropriately, enabling them to grow as confident, independent writers.

 

In our Reception classes, we use Greg Bottrill’s Drawing Club to form part of our Literacy lessons. 

Drawing Club allows us to open up the magic world of tales and story to children whilst at the same time enriching their language and vocabulary, developing their fine motor skills, and building upon their application of phonics and maths by writing secret codes.

Drawing Club is a highly creative approach that immerses children into a world full of imagination where anything can happen and it often does!

By the end of Early Years we aim for our children to be able to:

-Physical Development – Early Writing Skills

• Hold a pencil using an effective, comfortable grip (usually tripod grip)

• Show good control and coordination in fine‑motor activities

• Use tools such as scissors, tweezers, paintbrushes and markers with increasing accuracy

• Demonstrate strength and stability in shoulders, arms and hands to support writing

• Form movements needed for writing: anticlockwise circles, straight lines, zig‑zags, crosses, curves

• Sit with good posture at a table when writing

-Letter Formation

• Form most lower‑case letters correctly

• Form most capital letters correctly

• Form digits 0–9 correctly

• Use correct starting points and direction for letter formation

• Leave clear finger spaces between words

-Phonics and Spelling

• Hear and identify sounds (phonemes) in words

• Represent sounds with the correct letters (graphemes)

• Spell simple words using known sound–letter correspondences

• Begin to spell some common exception words

• Use phonics knowledge independently when writing

-Writing Captions/ Sentences

• Say a sentence aloud before writing it

• Write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others

• Attempt to use finger spaces consistently

• Re‑read writing to check it makes sense

-Composition and Understanding of Texts

• Retell familiar stories in sequence

• Use vocabulary from stories and experiences in writing

• Begin to understand different types of writing: lists, labels, instructions, stories, information texts

• Show awareness of purpose (e.g., writing a card, label, message)