Curious Quests

Curious Quests

At St Gilbert’s RC Primary School, we continue to do what is right for our children. Following their experiences with Drawing Club in EYFS, children in Year 1 and Year 2 take part in the Curious Quests approach to writing.

Curious Quests is an immersive adventure into story, poetry and make-believe, giving children endless possibilities to invent, imagine and dream up their own stories. Children begin Curious Quests in Year 1 following their completion of Drawing Club, building upon the creativity, imagination, vocabulary and early writing skills they have developed in the Early Years.

Curious Quests combines short carpet sessions, group work and opportunities for children to explore open-ended resources, including junk modelling, construction, playdough, role play and outdoor learning. This approach is embedded within our English curriculum and transforms children's writing experiences by making learning creative, purposeful and joyful.

Children use quests and key characters to develop their understanding of SPaG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) in an engaging and meaningful way, while also applying their phonics knowledge. The approach builds upon the freedom and creativity of Drawing Club, reinforcing the message that writing is for everyone and that the pen is a magic wand. Children are encouraged to see themselves as authors, storytellers and creators who can use their imagination to bring ideas to life.

Children use the phonics knowledge they develop through Read Write Inc. (RWI) sessions to support their writing. This enables them to apply their developing knowledge of sounds and spelling within meaningful writing opportunities.

The Key Components

Word bathing - Introducing vocabulary linked to or featuring in the text.

From the portal - Introducing the learning intention of the lesson and key messages.

Snuggle - Sharing of our key text.

Gadabout - During this element of the lesson there is a comprehension focus in which children chant key probing questions before discussion and modelling unlocks comprehension and understanding.

Model writing - Teacher-led modelling to demonstrate key learning intentions and foundations of writing.

Supported groups - Children work with the support of a teacher/teaching assistant in writing-based activities with extensive support for 2 groups per session.

Independent writing - Children work independently to practice their writing application in focused activities once a week.

Modelled drawing - Teacher-led modelling of drawing/creating, related to the book. Extensive vocabulary is modelled during this process. Magic moments (creating a solution to a problem in the story) allow children be creative and innovative.

Time together - Children have opportunities to be creative and innovative through drawing, dough, craft and drama.

Our Catholic Ethos and Gospel Values

At St Gilbert’s RC Primary School, our Catholic faith is at the heart of everything we do, and Curious Quests provides many opportunities for children to explore our Gospel Values through the stories, characters and themes they encounter.

The texts and adventures we explore can provide opportunities for children to consider important themes such as kindness, friendship, compassion, forgiveness, respect, courage, honesty, justice and helping others. Through discussions about characters and their choices, children are encouraged to think about how others might feel, consider different perspectives and reflect on how their actions can affect those around them.

Our Curious Quests encourage children to ask questions and engage in meaningful conversations about the challenges faced by characters. They may explore questions such as “What would you do?”, “How could we help?”, “Was that a kind choice?” or “What could the character do differently?”. These discussions encourage children to empathise with others and make connections between the stories they explore and their own lives.

The themes and characters within our chosen texts also give us opportunities to make links to our Catholic faith and Gospel Values. Children are encouraged to recognise qualities such as compassion, courage and forgiveness and to consider how these values can be lived out within our school and wider community.

Through Curious Quests, we aim to develop children who are creative, curious, confident and independent writers, while also nurturing children who are thoughtful, compassionate and respectful of others. By combining imagination, purposeful writing, rich vocabulary, phonics and meaningful discussion, we create an English curriculum where children can explore, question, create and discover the joy of writing.