Raising the BAR: Writing Assessment Grid

Are you looking for a way to assess writing?

At Bright Light Education, we believe writing should be an enjoyable process. However, for many children, mastering spelling, handwriting, vocabulary, grammar, punctuation as well as forming ideas and structuring their piece of work properly, is no easy task. We believe that being judged on all these criteria at once can cause a child to lack confidence in writing and take the pleasure of writing away from them.

This is why we have developed our own ‘Raising the BAR’ standards for writing. Whilst our levelling process has been influenced by the National Curriculum and TA Framework for Writing, we have removed the ‘Transcription’ element (as this can be assessed separately), and created a process which should motivate rather than discourage children. Additionally, we have added new criteria; criteria which encourages children to enjoy writing through storytelling. For example: can I use personification to describe the atmosphere; can I use Show Don’t Tell for developing the emotions of my characters; can I use hyperbole to develop humour or exaggeration in my writing?

We wholeheartedly believe that children should be taught the art of writing through storytelling and creative writing. Children should feel excited to write, to let their imaginations run wild and, at the same time, be taught a range of wonderful writing skills to make their writing captivating for their audience. Our ‘Raising the BAR’ standards assess children on what we feel are the important criteria for writing. Each year group has 21 criteria, which are separated into three categories:

• Language
• Skills
• Structure

Each criteria has 7 strands, covering vocabulary, writing techniques, grammar, punctuation, composition and ideas. At the end, children receive a score out of 21 and are awarded one of three levels:

• B = Budding (E.g. Budding Year 2)
• A = Aspiring (E.g. Aspiring Year 2)
• R = Rising (E.g. Rising Year 2)

For example, a child might be a "Budding" Year 2 at the start of the term, but an "Aspiring" or "Rising" Year 2 by the end. We hope that these positively worded levels, together with more attainable and inspiring criteria, will successfully ignite children’s passion for writing.

What is included?

Upon purchase, you will receive an email containing the link to download your "Raising the BAR: Writing Assessment Grid". The grid is an excel spreadsheet, divided into the primary school year groups, from Year 2 to Year 6. There is also a grid for assessing 11+ creative writing. Please read the simple instructions in the email for how to use the grid most effectively.