History, Missions and Values

History

The Norfolk Writing Project is the legacy of a DfE-funded and Norwich Priority Area-requested project which ran from September 2023 to April 2025. It was called the Norwich Writing Project and it worked with twenty schools in Norwich. The project was a collaboration between the educational consultant Sally Rundell and the Inspiration Trust Delivery Team. The Norfolk Writing Project continues to work with these original schools as part of the NWP Network. 

Mission

The Norfolk Writing Project aims to improve writing KS2 outcomes for pupils across the region. In addition, it aims to contribute positively to the national conversation about how writing can be effectively taught at primary level.

The project wants to achieve this by working with teachers to help them make the most appropriate curricular and pedagogic decisions. In addition, the project recognises that the assessment of writing is notoriously difficult. To that end, the project aims to create greater clarity about what age related expectations for writing should be in Years 1-5. Furthermore, we recognise that there is also a leadership dimension to being able to drive up writing standards. Therefore, the project works with English leads and creates networks of English leads so that that expertise can be shared.

Values

  • Writing is a complex and composite task and therefore it is not possible to meaningfully improve writing standards in the short term.
  • There is no one pedagogic or curricular “magic bullet” which will result in improved writing. Instead teachers need to skilfully develop a repertoire of strategies and then make judicious decisions about how to deploy them.
  • Improvements in writing cannot be meaningfully achieved without a consideration of the content of writing. Therefore, good writing begins in good curriculum.
  • Teacher development is best sustained through communities who have a shared sense of purpose.
  • Assessing writing is notoriously difficult and there is no one perfect way to assess. Using different forms of assessment and moderating with colleagues can help overcome some of the assessment challenges.