This half day online CPD was originally commissioned by two large multi-academy trusts in Yorkshire and is now available for other schools and organisations. The input is targeted at leaders, especially English leaders, but is also suitable for class teachers. During the session we will cover the following items:

• Introduction – What do we mean by GD writers and who are yours?
• Your moderation experiences
• What about Greater Depth in mixed ability class?
• The curse of the WAGOLL!
• The very obvious importance of reading
• Stealing the style and Sprinkling the Magic
• Crafting great sentences
• Handwriting 101
• Some ideas for challenges
• Making it happen
• Links with The Writing Framework – see below

Feedback from the first two sessions has been really, really positive.

Thank you so much – really enjoyed this morning

Thank you so much – lots of interesting resources for me to feedback to staff. Going to use the 4 statements for description and the planning board to focus on audience and purpose

Thank you! I loved the changing the purpose/audience and I thought the add in/add on/ change words/add sentence/ join sentence was great and easily applicable

This is not a writing moderation session. It is designed to give practical and workable solutions for all year groups from Year 1 and above. There is a big focus upon audience and purpose and the use of children’s reading and ’stealing the style’.

There is an option to add an afternoon session, which will involve me teaching online small groups of potentially GD children working with their teachers. This puts into practice some of the ideas from the morning session.

Thanks so much for today – it was great. I got some fab ideas this morning and the children loved this afternoon.
Thank you so much. The children have really enjoyed this afternoon.
… found repetition (Alfie), power of 3 (Katie) and verb pairs (Olivia). The children questioned the use of ‘and’ at the start of a sentence.
The children liked ‘down, down, down’ structure, because it makes it feel like it’s actually going down

The Writing Framework

in July 2025, the DFE published the writing framework. The table below shows how this training fits in with the writing framework.

DfE Summary of the Writing Framework	How this fits with Make it Sing!
Writing is complex Writing places significant demands on pupils’ working memory so it is vital to teach it in a sequenced way that helps to manage those demands.	Potential GD writers tend to have a stronger working memory and less need for structure.The training encourages them to step away from heavily structured pieces and craft their own writing, drawing on what has been read by synthesising their own reading influences.  As the Writing Framework states, ‘More experienced writers, for example, may find that they can resolve their thinking more effectively by actually writing than by spending time thinking about what to write.’
Teach handwriting and spelling in reception Teaching handwriting and spelling (transcription) from the reception year is crucial to ensure that these skills become automatic for children. This will free up their working memory for composition.	Transcription still has a high profile in KS1 GD expectations. Sometimes children with a talent for composition may still have issues with spelling and handwriting. The training offers short term input to address this with Handwriting 101 and Spelling 101 ideas. We are looking for the CIA – Consistency – Independence – Accuracy.
Sentence instruction is essential All writing is made up of sentences. Knowledge of grammar helps pupils to control sentences and convey meaning, but it does not support their writing fluency when taught in isolation.	This is still a key element of the programme. There is a consistency of approach focusing around explicit sentence instruction for constructing sentences – combining and expanding sentences but with an added input on shortening sentences. We look specifically at writing techniques employed by authors under the headings of Sprinkling the Magic for KS1 and Stealing the Style for KS2.
Spoken language is as important for writing as for reading Pupils should compose orally while they are developing their transcription skills. This can still be valuable even when they can transcribe fluently.	Reading aloud is an important part the editing process using an approach based upon the use of voice pitch, timing and prominence of certain words to indicate sentence boundaries and varied sentence types and structures (also known as prosody).
Quality is more important than length Pupils need to master the foundations of writing – handwriting, spelling and sentence construction. They should not be expected to write at length before they are ready.	These children are often capable of writing at length so when this happens there is a focus upon text cohesion. Having said this, there is more of an emphasis upon audience and purpose and the ingredients needed to achieve effective outcomes such as the composition of audio description for visual texts.
The reception year is vital The reception year builds the foundations that support pupils’ writing throughout primary school and underpin their future success.	As stated above, the CPD  aims to close some of the transcription and spelling gaps for some pupils that may have occurred earlier via the Handwriting 101 and Spelling 101 elements.
Identify pupils who need additional support It is important to identify the pupils who need additional support with writing as early as possible, from reception onwards. Teachers can then adapt their teaching and make it accessible. This includes giving pupils more time and practice so that they can make good progress.	These children may need support of a different kind and often teachers would classify them as reluctant but potentially talented writers. The focus here is upon motivation and giving the pupils real challenge and reasons for writing. As one child to during a workshop said ‘I used to hate writing but now I love sprinkling the magic.’
It will take time to tackle all the challenges in teaching writing Schools should concentrate initially on teaching high-quality transcription and sentence instruction, while gradually developing broader writing skills.	As stated above, High quality sentence instruction is at the very heart of the training session with practical ideas and a consistent focus of adding in – adding on and changing elements but also allowing these experienced writers additional freedom to use their own voice.
Avoid focusing too heavily on test preparation This can limit the development of skills and knowledge, stifling pupils’ creativity and wider writing development.	If this refers to the SPaG test in Y6. Then why not just scrap it? Hopefully the wider curriculum review will address this. For our potential GD writers, teachers’ focus is often upon ‘Can we find enough evidence for them to be greater depth writers? Or as the cliche goes ‘Do they have flair?’
Leaders must establish the culture and curriculum Leaders are responsible for: establishing a positive writing culture developing a well-sequenced curriculum ensuring that all teachers are trained to teach writing	There is a famous saying that ‘ A rising tide raises all boats.’ Hopefully, the ideas in the training will allow teachers to adapt ideas and inspire all children and staff to establish a positive writing culture within a well sequenced curriculum. If delivered to a whole staff, then teachers would be trained to recognise how GD writers can be supported and encouraged.

The table can be downloaded as a PDF below.

The cost of the session is £300 per half-day for up to 3 schools and £450 for 4 schools and above.

Please get in touch if you would like to arrange something or would like a conversation about the possibilities.