Teaching Writing to ALL!
20 March 2025: 9 am – 12 noon
Building foundational writing skills for all learners
Sarah will inspire and equip you with the tools to support your learners at every stage of their writing journey by developing a holistic approach to teaching writing through examining key theoretical insights, combining aspects of emergent and conventional writing approaches and identifying and removing learning barriers.
This session will explore why writing matters and how it supports a learner’s communication, creativity, reading, well-being, and independence. We examine what writing looks like at every stage for our learners, including those with the most profound and complex needs, and share practical multi sensory strategies to create richer writing learning opportunities.
By the end of the session, delegates will understand:
the developmental stages of writing
how to move from mark-making to scribbling to writing, identifying the sensory and experiential elements that increase engagement and output
practical multi sensory strategies to create richer writing experiences
how to use technology to make writing inclusive and accessible at every stage of writing development
how to use resources like the Developmental Writing Scale (Strum) and Writing with All Tools Continuum (Farrall) to reduce barriers to learning
how to create a literacy-rich classroom environment to extend vocabulary, ideas, and experiences and inspire writing
practical ideas for learners to practice writing skills through stories, games, songs, and other engaging activities
Session 1: Why Do We Write?
In this session, we investigate the purpose of writing and its role in enabling expression, communication, and independence for all learners. We will discuss writing as a multi-sensory experience and how to make it accessible for every learner
Session 2: Writing as mark-making: the earliest stages of development
In this session, we explore the importance of mark-making as a developmental stage, discussing how to provide these opportunities for learners, including those with the most significant needs, to explore, experiment, and progress toward meaningful writing.
Session 3: Developing creativity and ideas in writing
In this session, we examine strategies for extending learners’ ideas and broadening their writing themes, especially for learners with SEND and those with limited life experiences. We share ideas for creating engaging and accessible pathways into writing for all learners, from alternative pencils to how to engage older learners.
Session 4: A rich literacy environment to support writing
In this session, Sarah shares how to develop a literacy-rich environment that fosters vocabulary growth, sparks creativity, and provides purposeful writing opportunities for all learners, regardless of their abilities. We will focus on the importance of multi-sensory practical approaches which use all learning environments to inspire, practice, over-learn and embed writing skills (e.g. Talk for Writing, Write Dance)
Session 5: Technology and inclusivity in writing
In this session, we examine how technology is a powerful tool to support inclusive writing, ensuring all learners, including those with profound and complex needs, can access, engage with, and benefit from writing opportunities.
9 am Admission and virtual tea/coffee to start the session!
9.05 am Welcome and a warm-up
9 am Admission and virtual tea/coffee to start the session!
9.05 am Welcome, introductions and a warm-up.
9.15 am Session 1: Why Do We Write?
9.45 am Session 2: Writing as mark-making: the earliest stages of development
10.00 am Session 3: Developing creativity and ideas in writing
10.30 am Coffee
11.00 am Session 4: A rich literacy environment to support writing
11.30 am Session 5: Technology and inclusivity in writing
11.50 am Q & A
12 noon Plenary, thank you and goodbye!
This course will be appropriate for classroom practitioners from special schools and colleges, mainstream settings with specialist SEN provision and early years settings, and working with pupils with severe/complex learning needs and autism, or both.
Dr Sarah Moseley has over 25 years of experience working in special and mainstream education, from teaching assistant to Headteacher. She has a solid research background which includes a master’s degree and PhD in Special Education, focusing on the teaching of reading for pupils with SEND and inclusion. Sarah has presented nationally and internationally at conferences and is a published author.
Sarah’s PhD centred on teaching reading to pupils with SLD and the impact on their feelings of themselves as learners. Her research focused on six special schools across the UK with pupils aged 11-14 years and found positive results from including all pupils in a reading curriculum.
She is now an independent Educational Consultant specialising in school improvement and raising outcomes for all learners. Her key areas for support focus on all aspects of SEND, teaching and learning, inclusion, behaviour, and the development of literacy/communication
Each place costs £135 plus VAT.
You can pay by credit card for this booking or request an invoice on the booking form.
The recording of this event will be in your account at online.hirstwood.com. You will access this using the email address on the booking form and your password (instructions for creating your password are in the joining information).
Here you will find:
a digital recording of the event
a transcript of the Zoom chat
These will be available for 10 days after the event.
NEW for 2025!
We will suggest practical reflective practice for this event to support you in implementing your key takeaways from this session in the classroom.
We’ll also offer a toolkit of additional resources to help, which may include further documentation, videos or links to valuable resources/websites.
Please join our Facebook Group, Sensory Support Spaghetti, to connect with us and other like-minded professionals – for everything sensory!
‘big thank you feel inspired!’
‘Thank you. This was really useful and I have so many ideas for things to look into at school’
‘Interesting and very useful.’
‘Expand my knowledge of literacy in an ever fast changing digital environment – hoping to explore new resources to access.’
‘Thank you. That was excellent.’
‘All the ideas and up to date information!’
‘It illustrated the things that I currently do are correct and gave me lots of ideas for the future.’
