Our Mission Statement:
To empower all of our learners to read, write, speak, design, view and listen in a way that allows them to communicate effectively and to make sense of the world they live in.
What is Literacy?
Literacy is the relationship pupils have with words and the skills they use to make sense of them.
We believe that Literacy experiences and outcomes promote the development of critical and creative thinking as well as competence in listening and talking, reading, writing and the personal, interpersonal and team-working skills which are so important in life and in the world of work. Our teachers make sure that pupils are given the opportunity to:
• engage in activities that develop speaking and listening skills as well as activities that integrate speaking and listening with reading and writing;
• developing speaking and listening skills through work that makes cross-curricular links;
• developing writing skills through work that makes cross curricular links with other subjects;
• work in sustained and practical ways, to learn about the art, craft and discipline of writing..
Why is Literacy important?
Literacy is fundamental to all areas of learning because it unlocks access to the wider curriculum. Being literate increases opportunities in all aspects of life and lays the foundations for lifelong learning and work.
Literacy supports learning. Pupils need vocabulary, expression and organisational control to cope with the cognitive demands of all subjects.
Better literacy leads to improved self-esteem, motivation and behaviour. It allows pupils to learn independently.
Literacy is empowering because it raises pupils’ attainment in all subjects.
Literacy Across the Curriculum
On entry the literacy skills of all pupils are tested. This will highlight aspects of literacy they need to develop. To help pupils who may need extra support, there is a programme of guided reading and paired reading.
All departments and all teachers have a crucial role to play in supporting pupils’ literacy development. This is done through:
Listening and talking for learning. We encourage pupils to:
• engage with others in group and class discussions of appropriate complexity;
• learn collaboratively – for example, when problem solving;
• explain their thinking to others;
• explore factors which influence them and persuade them in order to help them think about the reliability of information.
Reading for learning. We encourage pupils to:
• find, select, sort, summarise and link information from a variety of sources;
• consider the purpose and main concerns in texts, and understand the differences between fact and opinion;
• discuss similarities and differences between texts.
Writing for learning. We encourage pupils to:
• make notes, develop ideas and acknowledge sources in written work;
• develop and use effective vocabulary;
• create texts – for example, presentations – which allow learners to persuade/argue/explore ideas.
Literacy Across the Curriculum
All teachers have received literacy training to try to ensure that lessons are differentiated sufficiently to ensure that a student’s level of literacy does not impinge on success in subjects across the curriculum. Teachers are expected to address a range of whole school approaches to literacy issues e.g.
- consistent marking, using our SITS / CAN model
- decoding exam questions / key command words which appear regularly in external exams
- teaching the spelling and definition of key words (tested in subject lessons and year 7 coaching time)
- focusing on explicitly teaching speaking and listening skills and group work protocols, as well as the appropriate use of Standard English in lessons
- modelling how to answer longer written questions or write for specific purposes in each subject
- enabling pupils to make effective notes, particularly for revision purposes
- using the Teaching Assistants to help the less able or work with guided groups