What is Writing Roots?
Writing Roots is a whole-school programme aimed at improving writing outcomes for pupils in Year 1 – Year 6. Through daily one-hour lessons, pupils engage with diverse texts, developing their writing skills via interactive activities, grammar teaching, and opportunities for authentic writing experiences.
Who is leading the project?
The project is led by Literacy Tree, an award-winning book-based platform for Primary English. Created by teachers for teachers, Literacy Tree delivers curriculum mapping, lesson plans, resources for writing, comprehension, spelling, assessment and home-learning for Reception to Year 7.
What will this project look like in your school?
If allocated to the intervention groupAs part of a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT), settings will be randomised into either the intervention or control group. Settings in the intervention group will receive the programme being tested. , the programme will introduce teachers to Literacy Tree’s ‘Teach Through a Text’ package, which builds their knowledge of writing conventions, and includes demonstrations of the teaching of grammar, spelling, and literary language through shared and modelled writing. Two training sessions (usually INSET) from Literacy Tree will prepare all staff delivering the programme. Teachers then complete a year-group-specific online training day, delivered by a Literacy Tree consultant, to focus on the skills relevant to their pupils’ stage. Schools receive copies of all the texts, along with curriculum maps, progression documents, a classroom toolkit, and access to termly online planning surgeries. Participating schools also have the opportunity to observe good practice at one of Literacy Tree’s network of Flagship schools (schools that have effectively implemented the programme over at least two years).
Writing Roots will be delivered to all year groups. Each class will explore two books per half-term and will engage with Writing Roots for one hour per day, for three weeks. In Spring, the programme is shortened to only 10 sessions, to accommodate the term length. Schools are expected to spend a minimum of one hour a day on Writing Roots.
As this is a trial, both intervention and control schools will be asked to complete some evaluation activities. This could include supporting the evaluators to carry out pupil assessments, as well as engaging in surveys and/or interviews with the evaluators. Exact evaluation requirements will be set out in the information materials if you express an interest in this project.
Who can take part?
State-funded mainstream primary schools in England are eligible to participate if they:
- Have all year groups from Year 1 to Year 6 (whole primary school), with no more than two year groups with mixed-year classes
- Are not participating in the following EEF projects: Pathways Literacy, Power of Reading, The OTTO Club or Rehearsal Room Writing
- Are not participating in any EEF whole-school trials
- Are not currently using Literacy Tree’s Writing Roots programme
- Have not participated in any Literacy Tree programme or training for the past 2 years (including individual year group programmes)
- Have not used more than two of Literacy Tree’s products over the past 2 years
Writing is a crucial skill and a facilitator of both personal and academic success. More research is needed to identify successful approaches that align with promising evidence and address priorities in school. Ofsted’s 2022 research review of English teaching has identified motivation as a factor that is ‘correlated strongly both with pupils’ attitudes to writing and their skill as writers’. The EEF-funded evidence review of writing approaches in Years 1 – 13 identified programmes that attempt to build students’ motivation to write and enjoy self-expression as among the key characteristics of programmes that produced good writing outcomes. The programme aims to provide authentic opportunities to write for different purposes and audiences, echoing the review’s finding that opportunities to interact through writing with valued peers and teachers could help foster enjoyment of writing.
The funding for this project and evaluation is from the Department for Education’s Accelerator Fund, which aims to expand the use of evidence-based programmes.
This programme will be evaluated through a randomised controlled trialAn RCT is used evaluate an educational programme by assigning settings to one of two groups: the intervention group, who receive the programme or the control group, who continue with business as usual. This ensures that any differences in outcomes can be confidently attributed to the programme, providing a robust estimate of the impact and contributing to the evidence for what works in improving educational outcomes. (RCTAn RCT is used evaluate an educational programme by assigning settings to one of two groups: the intervention group, who receive the programme or the control group, who continue with business as usual. This ensures that any differences in outcomes can be confidently attributed to the programme, providing a robust estimate of the impact and contributing to the evidence for what works in improving educational outcomes.) led by RAND Europe (a non-profit institution that helps improve policy and decision making through research and analysis) and the University of Leeds. The trial will assess the impact on pupils’ writing attainment and evaluate the impact of Writing Roots on pupils’ motivation towards writing. Schools have a 50% chance of being allocated to the intervention groupAs part of a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT), settings will be randomised into either the intervention or control group. Settings in the intervention group will receive the programme being tested. (receiving the Writing Roots programme). Schools allocated to the control groupAs part of a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT), settings will be randomised into either the intervention or control group. Settings in the control group continue with their usual practices and help provide a comparison to measure the intervention’s impact. They are usually offered a monetary compensation as thanks for their contribution. will continue with business as usual.
RAND Europe will lead on the overall management of the trial and the impact evaluation. The University of Leeds will lead the implementation and process evaluationAn IPE is used to understand how and why an intervention has (or has not) been successful. Data is analysed to explore programme quality, reach, adaptation and differentiation, as well as setting fidelity and responsiveness to the trial design. which will explore how schools implement the programme and perceptions of Writing Roots. They will also lead the data collection.
The evaluation report will be published in Spring 2027.