ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the needs of the learner in engaging with the writing process it begins to realise there are several stages or 'platforms' to travel through in order to produce a piece of work. The National Writing Project illustrated the value of children gaining responses from each other. The chapter shares a case study of the author's work in partnership with one school in Sunderland where the staff began to make connections between the importance of speaking and listening and writing development as a result of: a need to provide learning opportunities that would raise achievement in writing. Achieving significant improvement in the achievement of writing, particularly for boys, was a long-standing challenge for Barnwell Primary School. Writing was being taught largely through the literacy hour and the stimulus for it was being sought, on the whole, from the vicarious rather than first hand experiences.
