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Home > Writing > Everybody writes > Secondary school writing audit
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Secondary school writing audit

Use this chart to identify the strategies which are already in place to support writing in your school and to create targets which could be embedded in your English Action Plan or used as a focus for CPD.

School writing audit

  Emerging Securing Established
Whole school environment
Prominent display areas in school foyer or reception are used to feature students' writing
There is a noticeboard to publicise writing events or clubs
The school has a dedicated indoor writing space, eg in the school library
The school has a dedicated indoor writing space, eg in the school library
Whole school displays reflect a shared focus in writing, eg reports, journals, letters around Black History Month
The indoor writing space includes inspiring ideas and writing resources
The school has an inspiring outdoor writing space
Specific pieces of students' writing are regularly celebrated in assemblies
The school or library hosts writing events (writer visits, writing clubs, etc) and actively supports students' independent writing
The school environment, indoors and outdoors, is saturated with writing, language and wordplay
Students are involved in designing and creating inspirational outdoor writing spaces, eg an interactive poetry wall or word walkway
The school has a speakers' corner or soapbox for students' speeches, debates, rallies
A dedicated noticeboard displays writing linked to Pupil Voice, e.g. minutes from School Council meetings
The school has a postbox for students to submit comments or suggestions for the School Council
Cross-curricular links
The English Subject Leader and Literacy Leader attend panel meetings and feedback information to colleagues
The English subject leader works with the Literacy leader to ensure commonality in messages from government initiatives
Displays around the school showcase students’ writing in all subjects
The Literacy Leader makes links with literacy leaders in other schools to share good practice
Samples of cross-curricular writing from Year 10 and 11 students are used to motivate Key Stage 3 students in developing their writing skills
The Literacy leaders across schools are an identified group and have their own network for sharing effective practice on a regular basis
Students have opportunities to coach exchange students in English writing skills
There is an annual cross-curricular writing day, focusing on a different subject every year: French, Science, Drama etc.
Transition
Students create a welcome guide for the new Year 7 group
Year 7 students write FAQs for Year 6 pupils
Able students create a transition weblog targeted at Year 6 pupils and share it with local primary schools, encouraging dialogue
Family engagement
At parents’ evenings, parents are informed of the role and importance of writing in each subject area
At parents’ evenings, parents are informed of the role and importance of writing in each subject area
The school runs adult literacy sessions for or creative writing for parents
Working with local businesses
Local business links are being established to encourage writing across subject areas
Visiting business representatives share importance of writing in their profession
Students email local businesses to investigate the importance of writing in different professions and make links to possible work experience partners
The school makes links with a local business to engage students with real writing for the world of work: over a period of several weeks, students visit the work place, consult with staff, see models of different kinds of writing, and undertake writing tasks for a real purpose
Students have the opportunity to write for a real purpose and for a real audience, eg students work with a local restaurant to write an enticing lunch menu to tempt diners
Community engagement
The school has an active relationship with the local public library
Community events and websites are used to inspire and initiate writing
The school works with the local public librarian to run a Local Writing workshop for students, exploring local literary history in a session supported by local writers
Students meet members of the community to experience writing for a real purpose, eg a fire-fighter writing an incident report
Students' writing is shared and celebrated throughout the community, in local newspapers, libraries, the town hall, etc.
Whole school display areas feature writing which links the school to the wider community, eg correspondence between students and local authorities on a community issue
Students work with the local community to write and publish a book about the community's history or a topic of shared interest
Students work with local services, such as the police or fire service, to produce real flyers and informative leaflets for a real audience of teenagers
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  Emerging Securing Established
Classroom environment
Classroom displays in every subject support writing, eg subject-specific word banks, displays to support planning process
Classrooms display writing in interesting and alternative ways, i.e. projections, provocative statements on whiteboards or PC screens, animations, murals
Departments display writing from the 'real world' as it relates to their subjects
Teachers as writers
Teachers discuss the writing process with their students, from planning to redrafting
Teachers of all subjects model writing for students
Teachers across all subject areas regard themselves as writers
The school encourages teachers to write for audiences outside the school, e.g. professional publications or creative writing competitions
Teachers' writing is shared and celebrated within the school or in staff meetings
The school hosts a writing club for teachers
Teachers run creative INSET sessions for each other and model writing in a peer learning environment
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  Emerging Securing Established
Events and writing groups
The English department organises writer visits
A member of staff is responsible for running a writing club for students.
Writing events such as National Poetry Day and Everybody Writes Day are marked by the English department
Children design and produce invitations for members of the school community to attend school events
All subjects organise visits by writers in their respective fields, eg a journalist from a car magazine visits a Design and Technology class
The school runs an extra-curricular writing club for students, with an emphasis on writing for pleasure
A member of staff runs a regular school newspaper which features submissions by students and is for a student readership
A member of staff runs a regular school newspaper which features submissions by students and is for a student readership
Writing events (national and local) are marked in whole school assemblies and with selected activities in across departments
Students are required to apply in writing for key roles such as Head of School Council, Head Girl/Boy etc
The school has a programme of writer visits and writer residencies embedded in the curriculum and has a dedicated budget for writer visits across subject areas
Students are actively engaged in running and developing a sophisticated school newspaper with an editorial commentary as well are news reports. Readership of the newspaper includes parents and the community.
Writing events are anticipated, publicised, planned for, and actively celebrated by every member of the school community, from the school caretaker to the Headteacher
The school organises inter-school writing events, from writing days to moderation of writing assessments
Students regularly participate in writing competitions covering a range of subject areas
ICT
The school has a website which features students' writing
Students are encouraged to use websites where they can publish their own writing
A virtual writing space is available
Students use the school website to share their own fiction and non-fiction writing, to give and receive feedback on writing, and to contribute to topical school discussions and debates
The school website features links to websites where students can publish their own writing
The virtual writing space reflects a broad community of writers from different backgrounds and with a range of interests
Students are actively engaged in developing the school website
Students use the school website for ambitious online writing projects, e.g. developing a collaborative novel written by the whole school
Students make animated stories in Flash, create photo stories or use video as part of a multimedia storytelling project
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