Curriculum materials alone don’t change outcomes. They help, of course – but without the right conditions, even the strongest writing strategy struggles to land.
That was the challenge for one South East primary school we work with. They’d spent years developing a bespoke curriculum. Leaders believed in it. The approach had potential. But impact was inconsistent, and classroom practice varied.
When leaders stepped back, they realised the issue wasn’t the content. It was the absence of a coherent implementation structure. Nothing was fully joined up, and that lack of clarity was holding teachers and pupils back.
So, with support from Leading English, they reframed writing not simply as an English initiative, but as a whole-school priority. They built the infrastructure around it. Six months later, senior leaders described writing as “transformed.”
Below are five practical checks any school can use – regardless of the curriculum you follow – to strengthen writing implementation and secure sustainable impact.
Five practical checks that strengthen writing implementation
Whether you use a commercial scheme or your own model, these checks help bridge the gap between curriculum on paper and writing in practice.
Is writing a whole-school priority, not just an English project?
Writing isn’t just English. It’s how pupils organise, express and extend their thinking across the curriculum.
Yet in many schools, writing sits solely with the English lead, without the system-level support needed to drive consistency.
In our case study school, the turning point came when SLT made writing a whole-school strategic priority. CPD and QA were aligned. Phase leaders were involved. It became a collaborative staff journey.
Reflection: Can you see writing explicitly in your strategic priorities? Do SLT, phase leaders and subject leaders share ownership?
Are leaders clear on what high-quality writing instruction looks like – and how to develop it?
Leaders can’t support what they can’t see. Embedding a writing strategy requires shared language around the elements of strong instruction: modelling, scaffolding, oral rehearsal, sentence construction, formative feedback, vocabulary development and more.
This isn’t about surface-level checklists. It’s about leaders having the clarity – and tools – to coach for improvement.
Reflection: Can every leader articulate the key features of effective writing instruction? Do they know how to support teachers to get there?
Does your CPD build subject knowledge, not just introduce strategies?
Too much CPD introduces a tool or resource, then moves on. To embed writing, CPD must deepen teachers’ understanding of how writing develops and what pupils need to secure along the way.
This includes grammar, the writing process, modelling techniques, scaffolding approaches and fluency-building strategies.
In our case study, shifting CPD from “how to deliver the unit” to “how to teach this writing skill” made the biggest difference.
Reflection: Is your CPD growing teacher expertise – or simply sharing resources?
Is your planning process designed for adaptation, not just delivery?
Writing plans shouldn’t be passed on as finished products. Strong planning is a professional conversation.
In the case study school, teams rehearsed models, discussed vocabulary choices, considered possible misconceptions and made deliberate adaptations to meet pupils’ needs.
Lessons became more fluent, responsive and purposeful – not rigid or over-scaffolded.
Reflection: How are teachers preparing for writing units? Are they adapting with intention, or just delivering what’s given?
Is your curriculum, pedagogy and assessment aligned?
Powerful strategies only work when curriculum content, teaching approaches and assessment routines all pull in the same direction.
For this school, clarity on progression – what pupils should secure each year, and how teachers would know – was the foundation.
Leaders refined their assessment processes, focused observations on sentence construction and vocabulary, and adjusted planning in response to gaps.
Impact followed. Not because the curriculum changed, but because the system around it became coherent.
Reflection: Are your planning, teaching and assessment processes aligned?
How Leading English supports this work
At Leading English, we help schools and trusts embed high-quality writing strategies that make a measurable impact. Our support includes:
- A mapped progression of writing knowledge, not just text types
- Structured sentence instruction that builds long-term fluency
- Grammar taught in context and revisited over time
- Support with planning, modelling and responsive instruction
- Subject knowledge CPD for teachers and leaders
- A clear assessment framework aligned with your curriculum
We don’t just provide curriculum content. We help you build the system around it – so great writing happens not only on display boards, but in every pupil’s learning.
