Writers for Life: Enhancing progress in KS2 writing

Writers for life is our targeted intervention designed to increase the writing skills and confidence of children in Key Stage 2 using self-motivation and metacognitive skills.

Writing provides a valuable vehicle for children to express ideas, thoughts and feelings and to deepen understanding. It plays a vital role in learning and academic attainment.

However, our research has shown writing enjoyment levels have almost halved over the past 15 years - with only 1 in 4 (26.6%) children enjoying writing in their free time.

Building on our existing success in supporting and developing primary writing, we have designed an intervention which aims to improve writing quality and empower children to take ownership of the writing process. Core approaches drawn from the whole-school IPEELL programme have been adapted to meet the needs of children that will benefit from focused teaching to accelerate progress towards age-related expectations.

Writers for Life will support teachers to build pupils' engagement with writing, developing their skills, confidence, independence and enjoyment. Based on the IPEELL approach, it uses memorable experiences, develops positive attitudes and draws upon Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) to improve pupils’ writing.

The intervention is aimed at teachers and teaching assistants supporting children in upper Key Stage 2 who have low prior attainment or lack writing stamina.

Writers for Life can be used as both a complement to reinforce IPEELL or as a standalone intervention for less confident writers.

Writers for Life offers a streamlined, fully planned set of three learning sequences each made up of five sessions.

Lesson content and supporting tools have been carefully designed to reduce cognitive load, allowing children to focus on approaches that support independence in writing across a range of text types.

Teachers will be provided with an intervention facilitator’s manual and two webinars to support pupils’ progress.