Dear Parents,
Last week, we explored the wonderful journey our children take as they begin to see themselves as writers. From our youngest learners in Nursery to our confident Year 1 students, we focused on how writing begins—not with words and sentences—but with mark making that carries meaning.
In the early years, children start by making marks simply for the joy of it. Over time, these marks evolve into representations of their thoughts, ideas, and experiences. This is what we call meaningful mark making—when children begin to understand that their marks can communicate something to others. It is a powerful moment in their development, and one that lays the foundation for future literacy.
To support this, we provide rich and engaging experiences that spark curiosity and imagination. These experiences give children something worth writing about, and when they are excited to share, their motivation and confidence to write grows naturally.
Here’s a glimpse into how this looked across our classes last week:
- Nursery: Our youngest learners took a big step forward in their storytelling journey. Building on their weekend news conversations, they were invited to draw pictures of their adventures. Watching them translate spoken words into purposeful marks was a beautiful reminder of how writing begins. By encouraging them to talk about their pictures, we helped them connect thoughts, spoken language, and symbolic representation—key building blocks in becoming confident communicators and writers.
- Reception: The children brewed up creativity with their spooky potions! Inspired by poetry, they created their own imaginative potion recipes to share with their classmates. As part of this magical writing experience, they were encouraged to use their growing phonics knowledge to label the ingredients in their potions. It was wonderful to see them sounding out words, identifying sounds, and confidently attempting to write them down. Whether it was “slimy slugs” or “fizzy fireflies,” their enthusiasm for writing was sparked by the meaningful context—and their phonics skills were put to purposeful use!
- Year 1: Our budding writers have been learning all about adjectives and conjunctions. They took part in an exciting bird walk, where they observed, discussed, and identified birds in the environment. During this activity, they explored the use of question marks and crafted thoughtful questions to ask each other during Busy Learning. They also thought carefully about their answers, making sure to include conjunctions and descriptive adjectives. This experience not only supported their writing development but also deepened their understanding of punctuation, inquiry, and how to make their sentences more interesting and detailed.
Across all year groups, these activities show how writing becomes purposeful when it is rooted in meaningful experiences. Whether it’s labelling spooky potion ingredients, recording weekend adventures, or crafting thoughtful questions, each task gives children a reason to write and a context that excites them. When writing feels relevant and connected to their interests, children are more motivated to engage, giving them opportunities to apply their phonics knowledge, experiment with vocabulary, and use sentence structure and punctuation in meaningful ways.
We look forward to seeing these skills continue to develop and flourish across the year as children grow in confidence and creativity as writers.
Looking Ahead
- Thursday 20th November – World Children’s Day (Children wear blue) and STEAM House Challenge
- Thursday 21st November – CPD Staff Training Day (Campus closed)
- Friday 28th November – Optional Seasonal Flu Vaccination (1st dose) | 09:00–11:00am
- Tuesday 9th December – Year 1 Christmas Show | 9:15am (45 mins)
- Wednesday 10th December – Reception Christmas Show | 9:15am (45 mins)
- Thursday 11th December – Nursery Christmas Show | 9:15am (45 mins)
- Tuesday 16th December – Christmas Party | 12:30–2:30pm (Party Clothes/Christmas Jumpers)
- Wednesday 21st January – Reception and Year 1 Kidsfest Trip
- Thursday 5th February – Nursery Kidsfest Trip
- Thursday 6th February - Key Stage 1 Sports Day (Year 1)
- Friday 13th February – Chinese New Year Celebrations and Lion Dance
- Friday 18th March – EYFS Sports Day (Nursery and Reception) 8:45am – 10:30am
Thank you for your continued support in your child’s learning journey—we can’t wait to share more of their exciting progress with you in the weeks ahead.
Yours sincerely,
Ruth Hanson
Head of Early Years
