West St Leonards Primary Academy is located in the St Leonards area of East Sussex, close to Hastings.
The school journey into Talk for Writing started in 2013, supported and inspired through a first training day provided by Pie Corbett.
Staff Enthusiasm
Staff’s enthusiasm for TfW was visible from the start. This has led to all staff having frequent internal CPD sessions both to share good practice and to mentor and support one another. Staff also participated in a number of assembly-based activities, including performing an imitated text in front of our 411 pupils.
Impact
In terms of impact, we have seen a rapid rise in children meeting and exceeding expected standards in both key stages, thanks to the flexibility and ownership teachers have over the learning but also due to the three-part structure of the Talk for Writing process. Children now meet the standards for spoken language as they regularly interpret texts in discussion and have numerous opportunities to present with expression and intonation.
West St Leonards Primary Academy was judged to be Outstanding in four out of five areas following its 2021 inspection by Ofsted and received an overall effectiveness rating of Good. It is the only Good school nationally to have achieved four outstanding judgements under the current inspection framework.
Taster Mornings
West St Leonards Primary Academy offers taster mornings which include opportunities to observe the Talk for Writing process in action across the academy, look at pupils’ books, plan a unit of writing and hear pupils’ views.
Current training offered
Contact
Dominic O’Regan
tfw@wslprimaryacademy.org.uk
