Literacy and Numeracy
The Importance of Literacy
At The Snaith School we have always promoted our Pupils Literacy and worked hard to ensure they achieve to the very best of their ability.
Now this is more important than ever with statistics showing a decline in Literacy standards nationally.
Did you know?
- Less than half of 8 to 16 year olds have read a book in the last month.
- 49% of children and young adults think that reading is boring.
- Children who enjoy reading very much are 5 times more likely to be above average readers.
- 22% of children report that no one at home encourages them to read.
- 1 in 3 does not own a book.
- 62% of boys do not enjoy writing and pupils at Key Stage 4 are the least likely to enjoy writing
- Pupils on free school meals have much less confidence in their writing ability.
- Research shows that the average length of a Pupils contribution to a class discussion is 4 words.
- A 4 year old with professional parents will have been exposed to 50 million words compared to 12 million words for a child from a disadvantaged background.
- We owe it to our Pupils to give them the very best Literacy skills, in order to improve their chances in life and to enable them to succeed in whatever path they choose.
At The Snaith School we will be working hard to support your child’s Literacy development in all subjects and we would welcome any time you could devote to this at home.
Over the coming weeks and months we will be adding a series of materials for you to use with your son/daughter.
Please keep a check on the website and help us to help your child. Support our belief that, “No skill is more crucial to the future of a child, or to a democratic and prosperous society, than Literacy.”
“The Los Angeles Times”
- Working at Level 3 in English (view pdf)
- Working at Level 4 in English (view pdf)
- Working at Level 5 in English (view pdf)
- Working at Level 6 in English (view pdf)
- Working at Level 7 in English (view pdf)
- Working at Level 8 in English (view pdf)
The Importance of Numeracy
- Numeracy is a life skill – vital for you to make informed decisions in your everyday life.
- We need to change attitudes about Maths and Numeracy, both at school and at home. We need to encourage teachers, parents and carers to be positive about Maths and not make disparaging remarks about people’s abilities in Maths.
- Adults who struggle with numeracy are twice as likely to be unemployed as those who are competent.
- Recent studies have shown that numeracy is a bigger indicator of disadvantage than literacy.
- As a parent/carer, you give your child their first experiences of maths; we'll help you make it a good one.
- Even if you don’t feel confident with maths, you can still make a huge difference to your child’s numeracy confidence and ability.
- Be positive about maths! Never say things like ‘I can’t do maths’ or ‘I hated maths at school’... your child might start to think like that themselves.
- Point out the maths in everyday life. Include your child in activities where you use maths such as using money, cooking and travelling.
- Praise your child for effort rather than talent - this shows them that by working hard they can always improve.
Ideas to Try at Home
- Talk about numbers in sport…how many points does your team need to avoid relegation or how many goals, tries, points or runs has your team scored this season?
- Measure ingredients or set the timer together when you are cooking. Talk about fractions in cooking…how many quarter cups make a cup?
- Talk about proportion when you make a cup of tea or squash…how much milk or how much water?
- Talk about the shape and size of objects…use the internet to find interesting size facts like tallest and shortest people, or biggest and smallest buildings etc.
- Talk about time…for example, what time should they leave the house to be at school on time?
- Look for maths on TV in newspapers or magazines etc. and talk about what it means.
- Solve maths problems at home, e.g. ‘we have 3 pizzas cut into quarters, if we eat 10 quarters, how many will be left?’
- KS3 Adding with Negative Numbers (view pdf)
- KS3 Fractions (view pdf)
- KS3 Lighthouse Word Questions (view pdf)
- KS3 Maths Activs (view pdf)
- KS3 Negative Numbers (view pdf)
- KS3 Probability (view pdf)