Closing the Writing Gap

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There is, rightly, a lot of concern about children falling behind, but a word of caution here from SENCo, Sara Alston, warns that focusing solely on academic learning when pupils return to school will be damaging. With the goal of giving every teacher the knowledge and skill to teach writing with confidence, it makes sense of the history and 'science' of writing, synthesising the debates and presenting a wealth of usable evidence about how children develop most efficiently as successful writers. Though seemingly ‘natural’, writing proves devilishly difficult for far too many school pupils and closing this gap can have a lasting impact on their academic and life success. This article by Alex Quigley introduces 7 steps to improve children's writing that feature throughout his latest book Closing the Writing Gap. 1. Train teachers in the art and science of writing Closing the Writing Gap does offer a simple conceptual model. But for me, it was not robust enough to fully grasp the full spectrum of the development of writing. Early years, key stage 1 teachers and, equally, those who work with struggling writers at all stages of education, would have been helped by a more comprehensive model. For example, I would have loved to have read Quigley’s take on Joan Sedita’s ‘writing rope’ model, which is far more detailed (and arguably more helpful). Maybe he’ll do that soon. Nearly two years ago, I began researching and writing ‘Closing the Reading Gap’. After writing my book on vocabulary, I knew that reading was the natural next step.

Writing Gap | The Confident Teacher Writing Gap | The Confident Teacher

Want to know where to start on helping children catch up? This article has taken all the trouble out of scouring the internet for advice and done it for you. Our lives can be filled and fulfilled by writing, says Alex Quigley. In this important new book: That story begins with our birth certificate and ends with our epitaph .... I can't think of a text which better articulates the importance of writing, and then goes on to articulate how to put ambition into practice. It is a book of wise principles and practical implementation. In it, Quigley establishes himself even further as my go-to source of insights into the all-important subject of whole-school literacy.Secondary Year 6 leavers - Covid-safe transition activities and ideas It's been a chaotic year but Year 6 children still deserve the best ending to their primary journey I was delighted and relieved then to receive really positive commendations from a brilliant array or teachers, leaders, and research experts. You can read their quotes below:

Closing the Writing Gap by Alex Quigley | Waterstones

Classroom teachers across all phases, middle leaders, literacy leaders and senior leadership teams, who want to ensure that every pupil can access the curriculum and write with confidence and skill. The course ensures that writing exemplification is linked to every subject and phase. There are few simple solutions in education. If you are being promised one, it is at best a hopeful fib, at worst a deceptive sales-pitch. But there are some helpful principles that can guide our actions. A useful one I think could help improve literacy in primary and secondary schools: write less; read more. It … We would be very interested in you coming to speak about your new book? Is this something you do? We are trying to embed our Literacy Policy and could really do with some input from someone like yourself! The ability to reflect upon and manipulate the sound structure of words. In writing, this difficulty will show in spelling. But when a child struggles to spell it can impede their writing significantly, affecting fluency, vocabulary and confidence. Some children will only write words they know they can spell and this means much writing will not reflect their verbal ability. With all the effort of trying to spell and write, a child’s working memory may be taken up with concentrating on this rather than the content of their writing. Freeing up the cognitive load could really help with the fluency of their writing, liberating them to be creative and relaxed. For assessment purposes, under this climate, a teacher can really see their potential.After over fifteen years in the classroom, I now support the cause of education from the other side the school gates. For most of the week I work for an educational charity, supporting teachers and school leaders to access research evidence. This book provides an easy-to-read and entertaining synthesis of research on writing, beginning with a compelling overview of how writing developed. It has written text at its heart and offers readers a succinct insight into textual research and its practical application to the writing classroom. The book is a rich source of directions for further reading and examples of strategies for teaching writing which will support teachers to reflect on what happens in their writing classrooms and to make enabling changes." Geoff Barton, General Secretary, Association of School & College Leaders, and former English Teacher

Closing the Literacy Gap | Free Guide - Routledge Closing the Literacy Gap | Free Guide - Routledge

We can take the brilliant complexity of sentences for granted. Each sentence written in the classroom is a distillation of a near-infinite number of complex moves. For pupils, practising one sentence brilliantly may be worth a hundred sentences written in haste. Too often, in the classroom, sentences are modelled, but pupils don’t have a strong … Hold that thought’ is not something children with poor short-term memories can do. They say (or often blurt out) something brilliant and then it has faded away either naturally or because someone or something has disrupted the thought process. It can even happen mid-sentence. Have you met those children who begin telling you something and then hesitate and say, ”I’ve forgotten what I wanted to say now”? Or those children so desperate to tell you something that they put their hands in the air as if their lives depended on it, but when you get to them, they’ve forgotten the answer? This type of behaviour may mean a child has a short-term memory difficulty.Teaching sentence variation. This resource concisely summarises the four key types of sentence level moves that pupils can practise to develop their writing style. It expertly articulates the problems caused by gaps in vocabulary, reading and writing and outlines how solutions such as teacher training and planning throughout the curriculum can lead to success. Often children with the difficulties stated above can end up on the ‘bottom’ table, or tasks set may be fixed at a very low bar. This counts for all children, really. Do you know your children’s individual skills and potential? Might they surprise you if you let them choose tasks without limits? With a variety of strategies and high expectations, children can often achieve fantastic things.