High Halden C of E Primary – Pathways to Write – Case Study

About the school: We are a small, rural school in a village between Ashford and Tenterden. Our school is a church school with strong Christian values that underpin all that we do in school.

Number of classes: 4

Number on roll: 101

The Challenge:

Writing became a focus after the disruption of COVID, as this area had been challenging to teach virtually and children were not writing regularly. We found that the stamina for writing was poor after COVID.

We chose Pathways to Write because we liked the way it used high-quality picture books, there was planning for mixed age classes, and it had clear progression across the school.

Mastery Approach:

Pupils’ attitudes to writing are positive and engagement with the texts has been high. Pupils talk with enthusiasm about their writing and are good at talking about the different mastery keys they have included in their writing. Writing outcomes have improved dramatically with a noticeable improvement in the breadth of vocabulary, sentence structure and text structure.

The Impact:

In the 2 years we have used Pathways to Write, the percentage of children working at the expected level has risen from 25% to 51% and a greater percentage are working at greater depth – 5% has risen to 9%.

‘Pathways to Write has had a positive impact on writing across our school both on outcomes and enjoyment of writing. Both staff and children enjoy the Pathways to Write lessons, and they are accessible for all learners. The high-quality texts have provided our children with a greater vocabulary, and the structure of the children’s writing has improved greatly.’

High Halden C of E Primary