Intent:

We chose Literacy Tree because we wanted a writing curriculum that placed high-quality children’s literature at the heart of pupils’ writing experiences. As a school, we are passionate about developing confident, articulate pupils who see themselves as writers. Literacy Tree’s carefully curated, rich and diverse texts provide powerful inspiration for writing and align closely with our vision for an engaging and purposeful writing curriculum. We were particularly drawn to the way each Writing Root immerses pupils in a text, enabling them to explore language, themes and ideas in depth before crafting their own writing.

Implementation

Literacy Tree has been embedded as the core of our writing curriculum across the school. Leaders prioritised professional development to ensure that staff developed a strong understanding of the approach and the pedagogy underpinning it. Through each Writing Root, pupils explore high-quality texts through discussion, drama and creative activities before moving into purposeful writing outcomes. A key element of this is writing for an authentic audience, which motivates pupils and gives real meaning to their work. Our learning environments celebrate the texts being studied, with working walls, vocabulary and examples of pupils’ writing displayed across classrooms and corridors. Writing is celebrated widely through assemblies and shared with parents and carers, helping to build pride and motivation in pupils’ work.

Impact

The impact has been transformational. Pupils are highly engaged in writing lessons and speak enthusiastically about the texts that inspire their work. Knowing that their writing will be shared with a real audience motivates pupils to take pride in their work and to craft their writing carefully. Pupils demonstrate growing confidence when discussing ideas and draw on rich vocabulary and literary features in their writing. They are writing with greater stamina and independence, producing more sustained and ambitious pieces. Most importantly, Literacy Tree has helped create a vibrant culture of writing where pupils see themselves as capable and enthusiastic writers.

Success story written by Alison Sawkins, Associate Principal

"Using Literacy Tree has strengthened teacher confidence and subject knowledge, particularly when teaching writing through rich, high-quality texts. Teachers feel more confident modelling language and exploring vocabulary, as well as explicitly modelling how a writer thinks. The Literacy Tree resources provide a strong starting point to scaffold learning and have enabled teachers to adapt them to ensure all learners can access the curriculum. By scaffolding tasks, providing supportive models and adjusting activities where needed, staff are able to support pupils with a wide range of needs while maintaining high expectations. From a leadership perspective, the clear progression of skills and carefully structured units have supported consistency across Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 made monitoring teaching and learning far more purposeful. It has been incredibly rewarding to see the impact on pupil engagement; children are enthusiastic about the texts we study and far more invested in their writing."

– Chris Wright, Year 6 teacher, Assistant Headteacher and Key Stage 2 Reading Lead

"Pupil engagement has been particularly strong since introducing Literacy Tree. The children are genuinely enthusiastic about the high-quality texts and are always eager to take part in discussions, drama and writing activities linked to the stories. This excitement has had a clear impact on their writing; pupils are now much more willing to write at length and are proud to share and celebrate their work. I have also seen greater confidence when they experiment with vocabulary and try new ideas in their writing. The carefully structured planning has strengthened my own subject knowledge and given me real confidence in adapting lessons when needed. In particular, the mixed-age planning has been extremely helpful in supporting lower-attaining pupils, providing a clear framework while still allowing the flexibility to meet the needs of all learners."

– Katy Lord, Year 2 teacher, Assistant Headteacher and Phonics Lead