My week of teaching started with me showing my class the video message from Nicky Morgan MP (Secretary for Education), regarding the changes in Primary Assessment, and explaining how teachers got together to change the submission date for their own moderation of KS2 Writing. I explained how the Government were a little late with the 'homework' they had promised us (by releasing their exemplification materials a little too out of time), yet still expected it to be 'marked' by the same deadline. This led to a fascinating discussion; a great stimulus for a unit of work on poetry (which I will share at another time).

I felt it was important for the children to understand, that many of the demands we make of them aren't necessarily coming from us. Some will say this was too heavy, but they had some interesting and extremely valid thoughts; I'd recommend you bring up the subject with the older children in your own school. I was incredibly impressed with how mature their ideas were regarding tests; why we take them, the pros and cons, etc. In many cases, their opinions were very profound. It also enabled them to put some of the difficulties they will face, with the system, into perspective against their ambitious futures because, ultimately, the assessment system means nothing to them at this point in their life.

Teaching is acting; we must make things appear to be of higher importance in the mind of a child. Take Statutory Assessments, for example. Depending on your angle, I believe you have 2 options:

1. A great teacher, in my opinion, TRANSLATES the intentions of those higher in power, to mean something to benefit the children in the long term, empowering them for later life. Assessments set by above are broadly unavoidable, so let's use them in as positive a way as possible; fit the exam to the child, life continues after the test.
2. A different teacher, in my opinion, DISSEMINATES the exact same information as those in higher power, to fool children into succeeding in the short term for their own professional gain. Assessments set by above are broadly unavoidable, so let's abandon anything outside of them and train you to pass; fit the child to the exam, this test IS your life.

In a sense, it's similar to AT1 and AT2 in Religious Education; Learning about... and Learning from...

A great teacher will help the children learn FROM their experiences of preparing for assessments. By this, I mean they will promote the behaviours in preparing for a test, the attitudes while taking the test, and the reaction when you hear the result.

A different teacher will educate the children ABOUT taking the assessments. By this, I mean they will only cover topics needed for the test (because why would you need to know anything else?), coach you to answer the different types of question required in the test, and encourage you to judge yourself based upon the result, as if this test has defined you.

​Not too long ago, and even still now (as some refuse to accept the glorious disappearance of meaninglessly inflated 'levels'), I would cringe when hearing children boast about their grade when, quite simply, you would look across the classroom at the child who had received a much lower result, but put in far more effort leading to great improvement! Equally, you would hear of the person barking at their class to include various vocabulary, because someone had considered it to be "a Level 5 word" (what even IS that!?!) Even more heart-breaking was the experienced teacher calling out their children because they were "still only a 2B!"

Now, there's no denying that qualifications can impact your future, and that children experience various styles of assessment throughout their primary career, but I firmly believe these should be used as something to learn FROM, rather than ABOUT; if they have to do them, make them as useful as possible. Life, after all, is full of tests.

As well as a tool for tailoring holistic learning, a great teacher, in my opinion, will use statutory tests, in-house assessments, etc, for the following:

• Teach the children the importance of focussing on a task. Why? Because although now it's just a spelling test, in several years it will be your driving test. 
• Show the children the importance of revision. Why? Because although you keep re-reading the same grammar terms to prepare for that SPaG test, in the future those definitions are replaced by your notecards for that important meeting.
• Encourage the children not to give up. Why? Because although it's your times tables at the moment, in many years it's the sort of stamina you'll need when applying for a mortgage.
• Promote ambition and performing to your potential. Why? Because although it's just a Maths assessment at age 10, there are lots of other applicants for that job you want.
• Model failing, making mistakes and picking yourself up. Why? Because although it's 'not the score you were hoping for', later it's the promotion you just missed out on.
• Explain the need for concentration, even when you're not interested. Why? Because although you owe 5 minutes of your playtime for talking in the lesson, later that's 5 minutes less with your own family because you hadn't knuckled down in the office.
• Praise good time management. Why? Because although that kid called you a swot for working hard in the lesson and getting all of your playtime, later it's that incredible day you spent with your family because you worked towards the company targets, earning yourself both time and money.
• Tell them to make the most of their working day and cherish their down time as a reward for hard work. Why? Because although it's a 15 minute playtime, where childhood is made, later it's the holiday you missed out on, where family memories are made.

Finally, demonstrate the value of improvement. Why? Because you might feel your 50% result wasn't good enough, compared to the person who gets a consistent 74% every time. But the fact you used to get zero, and continued to put in the effort, to achieve your ever-increasing personal best, is far more important. In the same way that using the lessons above, and applying yourself consistently, will launch you into a life of varied fulfilment, respect from the right characters and an internal sense of self-worth, knowing you worked hard to get you to whatever dream you had when that different teacher told you "your result isn't good enough". 

The test you're about to take doesn't mean much; but your education is everything. Learn FROM the process, not ABOUT the process.

I explained to the children that our lives are fast paced; we are constantly on the move. When we give our own anecdotes, we only ever give the actions, the movements. And, unfortunately, their writing is often the same. However, the most popular books are the ones that transport the reader somewhere. If the author only relies on actions, everything will be happening in a blank space by a stick person with a name; the reader's imagination would have very little to use. The most successful authors make use of the expanded noun phrases and the senses to bring the world on the page alive. They can even control your breathing with their punctuation. Like this. See?

The final stage is fairly obvious. I gave the children a blank plan and an entire lesson.

​They were well rehearsed in articulating what was expected of them; the qualities that would make their writing more engaging, with a real focus on the effect on the reader.

In conclusion, I was so pleased with what my learners had achieved in just a couple of weeks. From the first piece of writing, to the last attempt at their chapter, I saw a real improvement in both content and stamina. For my class, this approach really helped; it was sensible, engaging and step-wise, leading from an enjoyable text involving lots of discussion and opportunity to imagine.

​The children were given time to think and space to share as they came up with their ideas and I tried hard to help them achieve. While these objectives will need constant revision (especially as they are designed to be mastered across 2 years) I really feel like they have made strong gains against their starting points so far! Next time we tackle narrative, I imagine expanded noun phrases will need a refresher, but my big focus will be dialogue. I am aiming to continue to drip-feed existing and new punctuation through my next non-fiction, always adding transferrable tools for them to choose from.

​Without question, the best bit is their own realisation at how much better their writing became. Doing the writing at the start, and a piece with the same brief at the end, was the perfect way for the children to see improvement.

​A great confidence builder and positive promotion of writing!

Note: As you will see by the dates in the photos, this entry has been a long time in the making. It is written out of overwhelming pride in my learners; I am so pleased with what they achieved in such a short space of time and I have been really looking forward to sharing it with you.

RECAP - As I have previously written, Pie Corbett's system of 'Immerse, Imitate, Innovate' when planning for writing, is one of my favourite approaches. For me as a teacher, it makes complete sense (although not the only approach - one size doesn't fit all, remember!) To present my interpretation of what he means, I am going to explain the unit of work I planned, provide photos to illustrate what the children did, and I'm hoping you'll see the learning journey they went on in the process - each set of photos shows the work of one child, across the entire process, in order.

After the Immersion, I needed my children to Imitate; within safe and specific boundaries, model what it is to be successful in what we are learning. Remember, I was looking for my children to start using expanded noun phrases and commas appropriately.

Using all of our discussions (and the mindmaps that came from them) we had lots of ideas that we could use. I wrote some short pieces of writing that, in turn, were missing one of the features I was looking for. The children were extremely aware of what we were learning; each day we had discussed why an author would use these in their writing and the effect it has on the reader when they are present.

As a result, when we read a piece of writing (that I had written) that didn't use expanded noun phrases (although did provide more ISPACE openers, featuring a correctly used comma), the children were keen to explain how the former would improve it.

​Equally, when we read another piece (that I had also written) that was extremely repetitive with the sentence openers (and showed even less reason to require a comma, making all the sentences the same length, although used expanded noun phrases) the class had lots of ideas of how to include some variety (and the resulting punctuation requirements).

​Essentially, we repeated the same pattern twice in order to imitate success;

• ​Find and collect examples of what we were looking for.
• ​Identify examples where 'what we are looking for' doesn't exist.
• ​Apply what we have learnt and improve the poor example we have found.

​The first round was all about the noun phrases, and the second was trying to find ways to include commas (most often by extending the sentence with extra clauses, thus making the writing more engaging for the reader and therefore, more successful).

​I put the success of this down to the fact that, on each occasion, the learners only had one thing to think about. Again, I previously wrote about how some classrooms see learners too often trying to create a completed piece of writing with no build up, using (for example) 5 different features, none of which have actually been taught to the children; they're expected to have gained enough knowledge of those 5 different aspects from the 10 minute modelled writing their teacher did, that had no relevance to the writing they worked hard on yesterday or the unrelated writing they will do tomorrow; this odd idea that 'having lots done' is good, with little consideration for how much the children have gained, understood or could use again by themselves; instead, giving them a worrying experience that promotes them to over-rely (polite word for copy) on the teacher's example because they have no knowledge of their own. A signal of faults in the system, not a reflection of the teacher.

​Through the method we used here, the children experienced applying 2 different aspects in depth (using everything they had learnt in the days previous), not needing to worry about the other, more secretarial qualities, because they had been taken care of on this occasion. Consequently, they also had 2 pieces of writing to be proud of and even more examples to draw upon when it came to the Innovation stage!

Note: As you will see by the dates in the photos, this entry has been a long time in the making. It is written out of overwhelming pride in my learners; I am so pleased with what they achieved in such a short space of time and I have been really looking forward to sharing it with you.

As I have previously written, Pie Corbett's system of 'Immerse, Imitate, Innovate' when planning for writing, is one of my favourite approaches. For me as a teacher, it makes complete sense (although not the only approach - one size doesn't fit all, remember!) To present my interpretation of what he means, I am going to explain the unit of work I planned, provide photos to illustrate what the children did, and I'm hoping you'll see the learning journey they went on in the process - each set of photos shows the work of one child, in order.

While a range of objectives would broadly be included, I had chosen some key ones that we would focus on:

• use expanded noun phrases to convey information; in narratives, describe settings, characters and atmosphere
• use commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity in writing (I wanted to introduce the use of the comma as a way to sensibly break up the clauses and a signal to breathe to avoid stumbling over what's written)

These are taken from the 2014 National Curriculum for English in Years 5 and 6, where we would also be working towards aspects of the objectives regarding planning and drafting their writing, developing initial ideas ​'using other similar writing as models for their own'.

​Writing needs an inspired context so, using the book as a stimulus, I wanted the children to write the next chapter; Sir Simon, a ghost trying to scare the Otis family out of the house, comes up with his next plan. Each chapter was already about each of his failed plans (you can see at the bottom of the flipchart that we had kept track of his attempts so far) so we were quite simply writing another idea. As teacher, I'm not overly bothered what the idea is; I need to see some expanded noun phrases and the beginnings of using a comma appropriately!

​The Immersion came in 3 stages: