Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ross Young

@writingrocks.bsky.social

780 followers 180 following 600 posts

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · Jan 8

Free writing CPD materials - covering all aspects of writing teaching

writing4pleasure.com/free-writing...

Free writing CPD materials – covering all aspects of writing teaching

Hello and welcome to our free professional development page! Please treat this webpage like you would a professional development book. Consider each heading as a book and within each book there a n…

writing4pleasure.com

1 4

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 19h

That's so kind thank you very much. Hey @ellencounter.bsky.social 👆😍

1 2

Reposted by Ross Young

Barbara Bleiman @barbarableiman.bsky.social · 22h

Another superb blog on writing! I so wish @writingrocks.bsky.social had been on the core panel and a key voice in the creation of the DfE Writing Framework.

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 1d

Teaching the writing processes to children

By Ross Young and @ellencounter.bsky.social

writing4pleasure.com/2025/10/08/t...

Teaching the writing processes to children

download this article The act of teaching writing to children has undergone significant evolution over the centuries. While writing itself is an ancient skill, explicit instruction in how to write,…

writing4pleasure.com

1 2 2

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 1d

Teaching the writing processes to children

By Ross Young and @ellencounter.bsky.social

writing4pleasure.com/2025/10/08/t...

Teaching the writing processes to children

writing4pleasure.com

1 3

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 2d

An essential report from Dr Francesca Bonafede and colleagues that deserves careful thought and reflection from everyone interested in helping children and young people become the best writers they can be — in the broadest sense! 👇

literacytrust.org.uk/research-ser...

Children and young people’s writing in school in 2025 | National Literacy Trust

This report examines children and young people's perceptions of their emotional and cognitive engagement with writing in school, and their views on and engagement with writing instruction.

literacytrust.org.uk

2 2

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 5d

Two for the price of one: Developing children’s word reading and word writing

writing4pleasure.com/2025/10/01/t...

Two for the price of one: Developing children’s word reading and word writing

download this article In the complex instructional landscape of literacy, the profound connection between reading and writing is a central tenet. This article explores the specific, interdependent …

writing4pleasure.com

Reposted by Ross Young

Dr Sabine Little @sabinelittle.bsky.social · 13d

Happy European Day of Languages! I'll be sharing posts throughout the day to celebrate, starting with the amazing collaboration with Twinkl for #Sheffield City of #Languages. Free resources for teachers and schools, celebrating multilingualism! www.twinkl.co.uk/l/iij38 @sheffielduni.bsky.social

Sheffield City of Languages Partnerships - - Twinkl

A collection of resources for teachers and schools to celebrate the Sheffield: City of Languages initiative.

www.twinkl.co.uk

4 7

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 20d

Agreed.

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 21d

We’ve essentially done this in our eBook:

writing4pleasure.com/the-science-...

The Science Of Teaching Primary Writing

Learning to be a writer is one of the most cognitively challenging but socially rewarding things children do when they are at school. This book looks to share a deep understanding of the research a…

writing4pleasure.com

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 21d

Yes, this is a massive problem! The DfE’s Core Content Framework for ITE contains just one bullet point on the teaching of writing, and Ofsted’s Initial Teacher Education Inspection Framework, fails to mention writing at all (apart from checking secondary teachers’ handwriting).

1 2

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 21d

I 100% believe it’s school and ITE related. Teachers tell me they never learnt about this stuff on their teacher training…

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 21d

Agreed. We provided them with so much material on this but it wasn’t taken up… 🤷‍♂️

1 1

Reposted by Ross Young

DamsonEd @damsoned.bsky.social · 21d

There are some strange myths around the teaching of writing floating around.

I wish the Writing Framework has just gone back to the utter basics (from research). Rather than create its own weird confections of misinterpretations.

bsky.app/profile/writ...

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 22d

Debunking the ‘bones aren’t ready’ and ‘motor skills first’ myths: What research says about young children’s handwriting

writing4pleasure.com/2025/09/17/d...

Debunking the ‘bones aren’t ready’ and ‘motor skills first’ myths: What research says about young children’s handwriting

The myth A persistent education myth claims that young children shouldn’t begin writing because ‘their bones aren’t ready’ or because they first need to perfect their gross and fine mot…

writing4pleasure.com

1 2 2

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 21d

Alternatively, I meet colleagues who don't know about emergent writing at all and so aren't sure how you can teach writing with children who 'don't know their letters' 👇

writing4pleasure.com/how-can-you-...

How can you teach children to write before they know their letters?

“Hi Ross & Phil, we’ve been debating. How can you possibly teach children to write before they have first learnt to form their letters and learnt their sounds?” We find oursel…

writing4pleasure.com

1 2 4

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 21d

Hi Sue. Unfortunately, I hear it when working with schools sometimes - hence putting the article together.

Only this morning, I saw some colleagues on Facebook discussing 'no pencils until after Christmas' with the focus instead being put in motor skill activities.

1 2

Reposted by Ross Young

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 22d

Debunking the ‘bones aren’t ready’ and ‘motor skills first’ myths: What research says about young children’s handwriting

writing4pleasure.com/2025/09/17/d...

Debunking the ‘bones aren’t ready’ and ‘motor skills first’ myths: What research says about young children’s handwriting

The myth A persistent education myth claims that young children shouldn’t begin writing because ‘their bones aren’t ready’ or because they first need to perfect their gross and fine mot…

writing4pleasure.com

1 1 2

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 22d

Debunking the ‘bones aren’t ready’ and ‘motor skills first’ myths: What research says about young children’s handwriting

writing4pleasure.com/2025/09/17/d...

Debunking the ‘bones aren’t ready’ and ‘motor skills first’ myths: What research says about young children’s handwriting

The myth A persistent education myth claims that young children shouldn’t begin writing because ‘their bones aren’t ready’ or because they first need to perfect their gross and fine mot…

writing4pleasure.com

1 1 2

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 22d

AI assessment products undermine the personal expression, social and rhetorical view of writing, which emphasise context, purpose, and meaning-making/sharing.

An over-reliance on automated assessment products risk reducing writing to convention-following rather than authentic communication.

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 22d

Instead of developing students’ thinking, voice, or audience awareness, instruction can become test-driven, focusing on the only things AI can reliably measure.

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 22d

From this perspective, such AI systems:

Reinforce narrow definitions of good writing. Teachers may feel pressured to prioritise mechanical correctness and rigid formats over thinking, feeling and rhetorical effectiveness.

1 1

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 22d

A formalist view treats writing primarily as the mastery of surface-level features (grammar, spelling, punctuation, adherence to structural conventions). Commercial AI writing assessment systems often excel at scoring these elements because they are rule-based and quantifiable.

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 22d

Commercial providers with a formalist view of writing and its development love AI assessment because it compels schools and teachers to focus on the only things AI can reliably measure — adherence to conventions and transcriptional accuracy.

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 22d

AI will never be able to assess what we value most about writing.

This is because AI doesn’t have the ability to think, feel or draw on human experience(s).

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 22d

AI will never be able to assess what we value most about writing.

This is because AI doesn’t have the ability to think, feel or draw on human experience(s).

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 24d

Getting Writing Right: NEW TRAINING COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT

writing4pleasure.com/2025/09/15/g...

Getting Writing Right: NEW TRAINING COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT

book now We’re delighted to announce that we’re collaborating with HFL Education and UK Literacy Association’s School Of The Year Elmhurst Primary School to bring you our new trai…

writing4pleasure.com

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 26d

The writing lives of working-class children

writing4pleasure.com/the-writing-...

The writing lives of working-class children

download this article ‘We can’t give children rich lives, but we can give them the lens to appreciate the richness that is already there’ – Lucy Calkins The writing lives of working-cla…

writing4pleasure.com

1 1

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 29d

Write to read, read to write: Reimagining the writing classroom

writing4pleasure.com/2025/07/29/w...

Write to Read, Read to Write: Reimagining the Writing Classroom

download this article We have been moved to write this article by a deep care for children’s writerly development, frustration with the systemic issues that perpetuate poor writing instruction, and…

writing4pleasure.com