Case Study: Writing Curriculum

This case study showcases how Chapel Street Community Primary School are collaborating with the One Education Literacy Team to develop a bespoke Writing curriculum tailored to meet children’s needs and support their progress towards expected standards. 

Setting the Scene

Chapel Street Community Primary School is a large three-form entry school based in Levenshulme, Manchester, where it serves a diverse and vibrant community. Guided by the school values of growth, respect and inclusion, Chapel Street is ambitious in its aspirations for every child and engages in a process of continual reflection and improvement. 

Data analysis and monitoring highlighted Writing as a priority area for the school on the next step of its improvement journey. Whilst the Writing curriculum was reviewed and updated a number of years ago, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and other external factors meant that the existing curriculum was no longer able to meet the changing needs of pupils. As a result, statutory writing outcomes were not yet meeting the national average, or rising as quickly as the school wanted them to be. 

Over the years, Chapel Street has built a strong, long-standing relationship with the One Education Literacy team through previous collaborations, including the development of a high-quality text spine and Reading curriculum. Having first-hand experience of the positive impact of these initiatives, the school sought to develop a bespoke Writing curriculum that would not only meet the evolving needs of their pupils, but align seamlessly with these key areas. 

One Education’s in-depth understanding of the school’s unique context – the pupils, staff, and existing curriculum – as well as their shared commitment to the school’s values, ethos and principles, made them the ideal partner for this project. 

Our Approach

As experts in the field, Literacy Team Leader, Laura Buczko, and the wider Literacy team were able to support school leaders at every step of the curriculum development process. They began by conducting thorough evaluation and monitoring to inform key curriculum decisions. School leaders particularly valued the team’s ability to benchmark and evaluate the school against other settings on both a local and national level. This insight helped Chapel Street to navigate potential challenges and avoid common pitfalls or so-called “lethal mutations,” providing the school with invaluable quality assurance.

After the initial monitoring phase, the Literacy team collaborated with staff to plan the curriculum content and structure, which encompassed long-term, medium-term, and short-term plans, as well as accompanying resources. To support the successful implementation of the curriculum, One Education delivered training and professional development to support staff across the whole school. While the curriculum was rolled out, Laura and the team followed up with monitoring to assess its implementation and support any necessary adaptations, ensuring it continued to meet the needs of both staff and students.

From the beginning, One Education’s Literacy experts worked in close partnership with leaders and teachers, combining their knowledge of the latest evidence and research-informed practices with the school’s understanding of their pupils, curriculum, and broader ambitions. Crucially, One Education listened to staff and respected their vision for the school, whilst making alternative suggestions where needed. This careful balance of support and professional challenge helped leaders to strip back the curriculum, identify key areas to prioritise, and ensure the effective sequencing and progression of learning objectives. 

The Results

• On the way to expected: External monitoring shows there is now a very clear and consistent writing cycle across the school, which is better tailored to meet the needs of all pupils. The newly enhanced long-term and medium-term plans clarify how best to take pupils from low starting points to achieving expected standards.
  
• Wellbeing and workload: Once fully embedded, the curriculum is expected to reduce teacher workload as they will no longer have to make decisions about content and sequencing. With a clear framework already in place, staff can concentrate their efforts on making adaptations and implementing strategies to support their pupils’ progress.
  
• Engaged writers: Leaders and teachers have a renewed sense of confidence that shines through in lessons and contributes to a whole school writing culture. As a result, children are not only more engaged, but excited to write and empowered to take risks in their writing, helping them to build mastery of the written word. 

Looking Forwards

After launching the Writing curriculum in Spring 2024, staff are looking forward to completing the full academic year of planning and receiving further training to ensure clarity, shared understanding, and consistent implementation across the whole school. 

As the curriculum has been pitched at the expected standard, the Chapel Street team will continue to receive ongoing support to adapt this effectively to children’s particular starting points. The school will also maintain a strong focus on monitoring its implementation, ensuring the curriculum continues to deliver the intended impact and improve outcomes for all pupils. 

Recommendation

Chapel Street Community Primary School highly recommends One Education’s Literacy service, especially due to their flexible and responsive approach, quality assurance, and collaborative support. 

“Working with Laura and One Education has had an enormous impact on literacy in our school, staff knowledge, confidence and the quality of teaching and learning. Laura’s expert knowledge and supportive manner has helped us to build a bespoke curriculum around a broad range of texts that reflect our school community and appropriately challenge children. She has led staff CPD on a 1:1, year group, key stage and whole-school basis and has enthused staff in the teaching of literacy whilst developing their confidence and knowledge. Literacy at Chapel Street has been greatly enhanced with the support and development of Laura and the team at One Education and we are looking forward to continuing our journey together.”

Sally Lavorini, English Lead

“Laura’s support with moderating writing has helped the staff to become more confident with identifying pupils’ next steps. Sharing her knowledge has developed staffs’ ability to effectively adapt teaching to meet the needs of all learners.”

Hermione Henry, Writing Lead