All articles > Schools Articles about schools Putting reading up front at Front Lawn Primary Front Lawn Primary has been on a journey of improvement since 2013, when Talk for Writing was first introduced. Reading results are greatly improved with children making accelerated progress. As a result of teaching reading to the whole class, children are now more confident in discussing a text. Talk for Writing in secondary maths classrooms Zeb Friedman, Maths Adviser and AST maths teacher shares the application of Talk for Writing in maths teaching at Varndean School, Brighton and Hove. “This was comparing maths to written communication in a direct and explicit way. The strategy that makes so much sense to me is ‘boxing up'”. Outstanding evidence of the writing process at East Hunsbury Liz Martin, project leader at East Hunsbury Primary Schol: “the format of units in our books, which illustrates the Talk for Writing process clearly, show the progress…but they also showed the strength of self-editing; an area clearly highlighted in the new curriculum…which fits perfectly with the TfW strategy”. Teaching story in two languages - TfW in China Jessica Waghorn explains how Talk for Writing works in a bilingual context in her school in Shenzhen province, China. Bringing Talk for Writing to India Gina Menon, a teacher from Raynham Primary School in London, decided to use Talk for Writing to deliver the writing section of a course for The Teacher Foundation (http://www.teacherfoundation.org/), a teacher-training organisation based in Bangalore. "Talk for Writing is potentially transformational" - John of Gaunt Secondary School John of Gaunt School in Trowbridge is our newest secondary Talk for Writing training centre. Deputy Headteacher, Louise Hamilton, outlines how they’ve successfully implemented the TfW approach across a secondary school. The Three Little Pigs at Highbank Primary Highbank Primary and Nursery School posted a video on Twitter of a child in F1 (Nursery 2) telling the story of The Three Little Pigs to her peers. She is sat in the storytelling chair and is using key language and occasional actions to assist the flow of the story – she has the other children completely hooked. Getting to the end point - real, quality independent writing Emma Mann, from Penn Wood Primary, tells us how they get their pupils to the end point – real, quality independent writing. The stages of Talk for Writing support ‘the end point’, i.e. getting children to write well independently. In order to do this, we follow ‘imitation, innovation, independent application’. Creating seasoned writers at Summerhill How a Talk for Writing project at Summerhill Primary School transformed writing: “As leaders, it has been exciting to watch the teachers grow in confidence and develop the ability to teach writing in a more creative way. There is a buzz of excitement around the school”. Teaching science at Selby using Talk for Writing Tom Wrigglesworth, Year 6 teacher at Selby Community Primary School, explains how the Talk for Writing approach can enhance learning in science and develop vocabulary across the curriculum. Page Turners - developing children as readers at Maidwell Primary There is a direct correlation between the amount a child reads, their attainment in reading and the quality of their writing. Knowing this to be an exact correlation within their school attainment, and having spotted Pie’s Y3-6 ‘Page Turners’ sets of books, an idea began to take shape at Maidwell Primary. Was this the biggest Talk for Writing story retelling ever? At Warren Road School in Orpington, the whole school of over 800 pupils retold a story. You can watch the video of it here and find more info about the school and Jamie Thomas who leads Talk for Writing training at the school on the Talk for Writing Training Centres webpage. Creating a love of reading at Selby Community Primary Beckie Reeve, Reading Leader at Selby Community Primary School explains how the school has transformed attitudes to reading: “As part of the Literacy Team at Selby CP, I can honestly say that we are well on our way to conquering that real love of reading with our children”. Storymapping in China Cara O’Connor, a teacher at Robin Hood Academy in Birmingham, tells us how she took Talk for Writing to the Chinese capital: “It was brilliantly received. The class teacher loved seeing a different way of teaching literacy especially the idea of story mapping and using the actions. It worked brilliantly”. Winds in the North West - a Mary Poppins inspired unit of work Following Talk for Writing training, Headteacher Sue Jackson invited an enthusiastic staff to plan a unit of work based on a creative hook and quality texts. This unit of work in Year 4 is based on Mary Poppins and exemplifies some key aspects of the Talk for Writing teaching sequence in action. Talk for Writing saves the day in Thailand! A Foundation Stage teacher working at Penn Wood in Slough employed Talk for Writing methods when called upon to unexpectedly teach English to children living in a Thai village. By the end of the session they all understood the plot of The Gingerbread Man and were able to use the English words. Bevendean Hearing Support Facility Project Ali Davis writes about a TfW project at Bevendean Hearing Support Facility: “I have always taught in a very interactive way, igniting imagination and desire to write. Talk for Writing has given a new, innovative structure to this teaching method”. Developing Talk for Writing to suit secondary schools Slough and Eton CE Business and Enterprise College undertook an extended project to help embed Talk for Writing throughout the school. The key aspect of this extended training was the role of the project team in leading the project within the school. Every department reported increased progress and enthusiasm. Seeing immediate progress at Coastlands Caitlin Jones, from Coastlands CP School in Pembrokeshire, talks through the early stages of getting Talk for Writing going, and seeing the immediate progress. Creating quality independent writing at Hallsville Primary At Hallsville Primary, teachers have found that there is not one magic ingredient for creating quality independent writing, but many. What do they think is the most important? Reading: “We have found that the longer you linger with the text, the better the independent outcomes are”. Raising expectations at Selby Community Primary Ian Clennan, headteacher of Selby Community Primary School, explains how the Talk for Writing approach rescued writing from the doldrums in his school and has the potential to transform writing: “we have learned many things; the most important being that we had made things too easy for the children for far too long”. The road to great reading results and a love of reading at Montgomery Primary How do you achieve great reading results AND a love of reading? In 2016, phonics and writing skills hadn’t translated into reading results at Montgomery Primary in Birmingham. Feeling the impact at Carlton Hill Maurice Leahy, teacher at Carlton Hill Primary School in Brighton, studied one child’s writing over a year to see the impact that Talk for Writing made. Getting Yew all Reading Maureen Carroll, Talk for Writing Lead at Yew Tree Primary in Birmingham, explains some of the steps the school has taken to embed a love of reading in the pupils: “Our main priority was developing a love of reading throughout the school in order to boost self-confidence…open up a world of unlimited opportunities”. Talk for Writing in the Australian outback “Traditionally, learning for aboriginal children was largely a matter of observation and imitation…within concrete contexts. The imitation and innovation phase of Talk for Writing taps into this preferred learning style”.
Putting reading up front at Front Lawn Primary Front Lawn Primary has been on a journey of improvement since 2013, when Talk for Writing was first introduced. Reading results are greatly improved with children making accelerated progress. As a result of teaching reading to the whole class, children are now more confident in discussing a text. Talk for Writing in secondary maths classrooms Zeb Friedman, Maths Adviser and AST maths teacher shares the application of Talk for Writing in maths teaching at Varndean School, Brighton and Hove. “This was comparing maths to written communication in a direct and explicit way. The strategy that makes so much sense to me is ‘boxing up'”. Outstanding evidence of the writing process at East Hunsbury Liz Martin, project leader at East Hunsbury Primary Schol: “the format of units in our books, which illustrates the Talk for Writing process clearly, show the progress…but they also showed the strength of self-editing; an area clearly highlighted in the new curriculum…which fits perfectly with the TfW strategy”. Teaching story in two languages - TfW in China Jessica Waghorn explains how Talk for Writing works in a bilingual context in her school in Shenzhen province, China. Bringing Talk for Writing to India Gina Menon, a teacher from Raynham Primary School in London, decided to use Talk for Writing to deliver the writing section of a course for The Teacher Foundation (http://www.teacherfoundation.org/), a teacher-training organisation based in Bangalore. "Talk for Writing is potentially transformational" - John of Gaunt Secondary School John of Gaunt School in Trowbridge is our newest secondary Talk for Writing training centre. Deputy Headteacher, Louise Hamilton, outlines how they’ve successfully implemented the TfW approach across a secondary school. The Three Little Pigs at Highbank Primary Highbank Primary and Nursery School posted a video on Twitter of a child in F1 (Nursery 2) telling the story of The Three Little Pigs to her peers. She is sat in the storytelling chair and is using key language and occasional actions to assist the flow of the story – she has the other children completely hooked. Getting to the end point - real, quality independent writing Emma Mann, from Penn Wood Primary, tells us how they get their pupils to the end point – real, quality independent writing. The stages of Talk for Writing support ‘the end point’, i.e. getting children to write well independently. In order to do this, we follow ‘imitation, innovation, independent application’. Creating seasoned writers at Summerhill How a Talk for Writing project at Summerhill Primary School transformed writing: “As leaders, it has been exciting to watch the teachers grow in confidence and develop the ability to teach writing in a more creative way. There is a buzz of excitement around the school”. Teaching science at Selby using Talk for Writing Tom Wrigglesworth, Year 6 teacher at Selby Community Primary School, explains how the Talk for Writing approach can enhance learning in science and develop vocabulary across the curriculum. Page Turners - developing children as readers at Maidwell Primary There is a direct correlation between the amount a child reads, their attainment in reading and the quality of their writing. Knowing this to be an exact correlation within their school attainment, and having spotted Pie’s Y3-6 ‘Page Turners’ sets of books, an idea began to take shape at Maidwell Primary. Was this the biggest Talk for Writing story retelling ever? At Warren Road School in Orpington, the whole school of over 800 pupils retold a story. You can watch the video of it here and find more info about the school and Jamie Thomas who leads Talk for Writing training at the school on the Talk for Writing Training Centres webpage. Creating a love of reading at Selby Community Primary Beckie Reeve, Reading Leader at Selby Community Primary School explains how the school has transformed attitudes to reading: “As part of the Literacy Team at Selby CP, I can honestly say that we are well on our way to conquering that real love of reading with our children”. Storymapping in China Cara O’Connor, a teacher at Robin Hood Academy in Birmingham, tells us how she took Talk for Writing to the Chinese capital: “It was brilliantly received. The class teacher loved seeing a different way of teaching literacy especially the idea of story mapping and using the actions. It worked brilliantly”. Winds in the North West - a Mary Poppins inspired unit of work Following Talk for Writing training, Headteacher Sue Jackson invited an enthusiastic staff to plan a unit of work based on a creative hook and quality texts. This unit of work in Year 4 is based on Mary Poppins and exemplifies some key aspects of the Talk for Writing teaching sequence in action. Talk for Writing saves the day in Thailand! A Foundation Stage teacher working at Penn Wood in Slough employed Talk for Writing methods when called upon to unexpectedly teach English to children living in a Thai village. By the end of the session they all understood the plot of The Gingerbread Man and were able to use the English words. Bevendean Hearing Support Facility Project Ali Davis writes about a TfW project at Bevendean Hearing Support Facility: “I have always taught in a very interactive way, igniting imagination and desire to write. Talk for Writing has given a new, innovative structure to this teaching method”. Developing Talk for Writing to suit secondary schools Slough and Eton CE Business and Enterprise College undertook an extended project to help embed Talk for Writing throughout the school. The key aspect of this extended training was the role of the project team in leading the project within the school. Every department reported increased progress and enthusiasm. Seeing immediate progress at Coastlands Caitlin Jones, from Coastlands CP School in Pembrokeshire, talks through the early stages of getting Talk for Writing going, and seeing the immediate progress. Creating quality independent writing at Hallsville Primary At Hallsville Primary, teachers have found that there is not one magic ingredient for creating quality independent writing, but many. What do they think is the most important? Reading: “We have found that the longer you linger with the text, the better the independent outcomes are”. Raising expectations at Selby Community Primary Ian Clennan, headteacher of Selby Community Primary School, explains how the Talk for Writing approach rescued writing from the doldrums in his school and has the potential to transform writing: “we have learned many things; the most important being that we had made things too easy for the children for far too long”. The road to great reading results and a love of reading at Montgomery Primary How do you achieve great reading results AND a love of reading? In 2016, phonics and writing skills hadn’t translated into reading results at Montgomery Primary in Birmingham. Feeling the impact at Carlton Hill Maurice Leahy, teacher at Carlton Hill Primary School in Brighton, studied one child’s writing over a year to see the impact that Talk for Writing made. Getting Yew all Reading Maureen Carroll, Talk for Writing Lead at Yew Tree Primary in Birmingham, explains some of the steps the school has taken to embed a love of reading in the pupils: “Our main priority was developing a love of reading throughout the school in order to boost self-confidence…open up a world of unlimited opportunities”. Talk for Writing in the Australian outback “Traditionally, learning for aboriginal children was largely a matter of observation and imitation…within concrete contexts. The imitation and innovation phase of Talk for Writing taps into this preferred learning style”.
