The Writing Framework: What it Means for Teachers

There’s been a lot of talk about the new Government writing framework – and for good reason. Its aim is to lay out ‘the importance of understanding how to build and extend sentences and paragraphs, and the importance of grammar and punctuation in conveying meaning.’ It sets out clear, research-informed guidance on how writing should be taught across the Early Years Foundation Stage and primary schools to ensure pupils become confident, capable writers for life. It aims to ‘help schools meet the expectations set out in the EYFS statutory framework and the national curriculum’ and is aligned with Ofsted’s inspection framework and with the reading framework (published in 2023).

Today, not being able to write well is holding too many children back. More than a quarter of our children are leaving primary school not up to the expected standard, unable to write well enough to succeed in secondary school and beyond. That’s a huge barrier to learning, not just in English lessons, but across the whole curriculum.
- Bridget Phillipson, The Secretary of State for Education

Is The Writing Framework part of The Curriculum Review?

No, the writing framework is separate, and the Curriculum Review is still ongoing, with recommendations expected to be published Autumn 2025.

The Writing Framework panel states ‘we do not intend to pre-empt the findings of the review... After the final review report is published and a revised national curriculum drafted, we will publish an updated version of this writing framework to align it to the revised national curriculum.’

A Quick Summary: What's in the Writing Framework?

While there is an official summary, we’ve delved a little deeper into the framework and will be bringing you a series of blogs that summarise the whole thing and how Purple Mash can continue to support you, your school, and your students. For now, here are the main take aways:

Focus on the early stages of writing: letter formation and oral composition must begin in EYFS and be secure before transitioning to sentence writing.
Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) programmes should still be used as these support children to develop their spelling skills.
Explicit teaching of sentence composition and vocabulary: children need explicit instruction and repeated practice, not just exposure.
Handwriting remains a priority: Daily practice is advised, with small steps and lots of practice. Cursive handwriting is not necessary. Typing remains appropriate for some students and can be introduced gradually to all in Key Stage 2 (but should not be the default way they write).
Grammar and Spelling must be taught in context, rather than discretely. Spelling should also include orthography (conventional spelling rules), morphology (how words are formed and relate to each other, i.e. ‘word families’) and etymology (the origin of words e.g. are they derived from Latin, Greek or other languages?).
There should be a structured writing process that includes planning, drafting, revising, editing and sharing.
Modelling for writing composition is key, whether that be model texts, teacher modelled writing, rephrasing oral compositions, providing sentence stems or reading high-quality stories aloud.

How Purple Mash supports the Teaching of Writing

Purple Mash is already aligned with the key principles of the writing framework – our tools and resources are designed to support schools in the teaching of writing, and to support pupils develop their writing fluency and ensure they are ready for Secondary Schools and the world beyond.

Phonics resources to support school programmes

2Handwrite can be used for modelling and practising handwriting in small, clear steps.

Spelling Scheme that includes teaching of morphology, orthography and etymology.

Grammar Scheme for Writing that enables teachers to teach by theme and incorporate it into their writing lessons.

Grammar Games to embed key learning.

Writing templates that include background information on topics and sentence stems which can be edited by the teacher.

Oracy resources to help pupils develop their thoughts orally before putting them to paper.

Writing tools to be used on whiteboards to model writing.

Why not explore the Purple Mash English tools and resources with a free trial?

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What’s next?

This blog is the first in a series exploring how Purple Mash supports the framework’s recommendations. Coming up:

Blog 1: Laying down the foundations – Writing in the Early Years.

Blog 2: Grammar, Spelling and Sentence Mastery at Primary

Blog 3: Purposeful Writing and Composition Across the Curriculum

So if your school is reviewing its writing curriculum – or just wants to feel confident about meeting the new expectations – make sure you check back in!