The Sheffield Private School Literacy Policy

The Sheffield Private School Literacy Policy Literacy is fundamental to every lesson Students will most effectively gain independent skills when they are invited to lead their own learning Students bring with them a range of skills and experiences from primary schools, of which secondary teachers need to be aware Appendices: Appendix 1 Marking for Literacy key principles and codes Appendix 2 Whole School Reading Policy Appendix 3 Sample Departmental Writing Frames Rationale: In 2016 the United Arab Emirates launched its national priority for reading. His Highness, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, reminded us that the first verse in the Qur an is Aqra ( Read ), and explained, As a nation, we have a goal to create and strengthen a generation of lifelong readers, who enjoy books and contribute to a knowledge-based society. Literacy targets at TSPS are kept under constant review and strategies for further improvement and development are on-going. Whole-staff professional development and involvement in the promotion and provision of literacy is at the heart of improving standards in students performance across all curricular areas of study. Literacy is integral to learning across the curriculum as the majority of the students at The Sheffield Private School are English as second language (ESL) learners. Low verbal scores across the school has meant that Literacy has become a senior leadership priority with a new lead on Literacy pioneering strategies in the academic year 2018-2019. It is an essential life skill. At The Sheffield Private School we accept that every teacher is a teacher of literacy and the development of literacy requires a whole school approach. It is a responsibility which is shared with students and parents. Literacy brings together the skills of reading and writing whilst also recognising the importance of speaking and listening skills as an essential part of using language for effective communication. Since these elements support students learning they will help raise standards in all subjects. Purpose: This policy will raise awareness and develop a shared understanding between staff, students and parents of the role of language in students learning and how work in different subjects can contribute to and benefit from the development of students ability to communicate effectively and enjoy language in all its forms. The policy will encourage and support all staff at The Sheffield Private School to assist their students in achieving our shared goal of enabling them to become confident and skilled users of language. This policy sets out a framework for departmental action plans. As of 01/09/2018 Page 1 of 11

This policy will: Produce a shared understanding amongst staff, students and parents of the importance of language in students learning and how work in all subjects can contribute to and benefit from the development of students ability to communicate effectively, directly impacting their attainment in GL PTE Raise expectations and standards for all students and develop their self-confidence, their skills and their achievements as learners and users of language across all phases and subjects Explicitly link language with metacognitive thinking processes and so enable the improvement of both in the students, using the model used in English of cognitive acceleration through the Let s Think in English lessons Assist students to choose appropriate forms of speech and to communicate clearly and with assurance. They should be able to talk and listen in a variety of groupings and in both formal and informal contexts, this is enhanced by the school s new strategy of debate mate techniques Develop writing skills for a range of purposes and audiences and in a range of styles (genre), using spelling, punctuation and syntax appropriately and with confidence. They should be able to write legibly using the new strategy of departmental writing frames to scaffold and support this (see appendix 3) Develop students ability to use information texts critically by locating, extracting and using relevant information from books and the internet. Prepare students for the opportunities that life after school will present. encourage teachers to raise students own expectations of achievement, thus raising standards; ensure that the SLT and Heads of Department expect, and set, the highest possible standards for literacy through PM appraisal, Book scrutiny evaluations and collegial marking; encourage teachers to develop students confidence through opportunities for self-expression; ensure a high level of competence in the areas of ICT through the school s bring your own device strategy, media/ digital literacy and sixth form transition skills; involve all staff in the assessment and facilitation of literacy skills and to devise whole-school strategies and systems for literacy development; ensure teachers are aware of the expectations for GL PTE and are preparing students effectively through curriculum for these assessments highlight the use of effective use of external GL PTE and CAT4 assessments and internal data, including diagnostic testing to measure and benchmark attainment in literacy; Support any department that is not making adequate provision for the promotion of literacy to put clear actions in place to address areas for improvement. The expectations for Literacy in lessons are: Subject specific key words are displayed, known and used in lessons to develop students vocabulary As of 01/09/2018 Page 2 of 11

The teacher engages students in specific activities that develop speaking and listening skills as well as activities that integrate speaking and listening with reading and writing The teachers develops speaking, listening, reading and writing with cross curricular links to other subjects Books have presentation codes and mark schemes, the language of which the student understand (see below); fortnightly extended writing is diagnostically marked The teacher follows the literacy marking policy and gives students opportunities to redraft their literacy work in the light of feedback. The teacher develops students reading skills by making them aware of the reading skills ladder Where appropriate, the teacher uses writing frames to scaffold writing and sustain and order students thoughts There is evidence of the class library being used to enhance learning Books show evidence of comprehension of texts, taught fortnightly reading material engaging with texts that challenge preconceptions and develop understanding beyond the personal and immediate The role of the governors: - Provide the school Principal, Vice Principal Secondary and Vice Principal Primary opportunities for external CPD based on literacy in schools where reading, writing and speaking and listening strategies have had a measurable impact on attainment. - Review the SDP; offer support to the senior leadership team; provide constructive advice on the strategies and initiatives in place to successfully embed effective initiatives literacies to affect change. - Frequently monitor the progress of the literacy strategies and initiatives, outlined in the Principal s report to the governors. - Liaise with the Principal and Vice Principals to review the strategies during visits and provide further recommendations for improvement. The role of SLT Ensure reading is a whole school priority in the SDP and is effectively tracked and monitored in line with whole school data processes Communicate the focus for reading and writing to the extended leadership team Promote the initiatives to develop reading through school by communicating to all stakeholders Liaise with Managing Director to help generate funding for resources and any external CPD training required, to support the implementation of all new literacy initiatives Ensure an up to date report on the progress of the strategies, is provided to the governors after every data collection. The role of the Head of Literacy Analyse verbal reading scores/stanines to determine gap and intervention for reading Overseeing the day-to-day operation of the school s Literacy and Reading policy. Drawing up annually and reviewing a Literacy improvement plan for primary and secondary. Providing information on the above to the Governing Body and SLT As of 01/09/2018 Page 3 of 11

Liaising with and training fellow teachers. Leading and managing through school team of English teachers and learning support assistants. Coordinating provision for students with special educational needs and leading on the graduated approach. Analysing reading data on whole school Leading CPD on literacy Liaising with external agencies to support the school s development of literacy throughout school The role of heads of phase/ department The role of the teacher in developing reading skills Ensuring the levels of literacy across the class are known and appealed to Tracking progress of all pupils, ensuring they make progress with literacy Ensuring lessons support reading, writing, speaking and listening Use of the reading skills ladder to support development of reading Use of appropriate writing frames to support extended writing in the subject Use of scaffolded debate opportunities to enhance speaking and listening The role of the parents Support students at home with one to one literacy Encourage students to be independent readers at home Be aware of the school s literacy marking and writing policy and support child with improvements The role of students Understand the four strands of literacy and be aware of my own targets for improvement Use the school libraries to support further development of my literacy use writing frames to support extended writing self-reflect on the success of communication in line with success criteria for literacy be aware of recommended reading for their ability and ensure they are reading widely and often As of 01/09/2018 Page 4 of 11

Appendix One: Marking for Literacy Marking and assessment should form part of a dialogue, in which some students are expected to do something in response to what a teacher has written All teachers should respond to literacy elements of the work they are marking Before students write Ensure they know that their writing is a draft and must be proof read using the school CUPS code (see below). They need to ensure they are making the effort to use the correct terminology and sentence structure. Giving students model texts is essential for them to understand the success criteria. Good practice in the classroom New words which are introduced should be displayed and students should be encouraged to look at them and use them in extended writing. Subject specific key words must be obvious in every lesson. Teacher should model a high standard of writing and a culture of spelling out the meaning of words. Responding to written work Firstly focus on the content of what has been written; treat the writing as genuine communication, not an exercise in revealing weaknesses. Work should be assessed against criteria which the students are familiar. Marking needs to be focused and selective and identify what the student needs to work on next. Student must respond to literacy marking. Supporting spelling punctuation and grammar Teachers need to identify a manageable number of errors (no more than 5 per page). If there are a great deal of errors, teacher could correct those of the first few lines and ensure students respond to these corrections. Prioritise SPG errors: key subject vocabulary, common errors and confusions eg. were/where, could of sp. denotes a spelling error. Students need to write the correction 3x in the margin and once in the back of their books on a spellings page. Peer assessment can be used for students to test one another on their personal lists on this page. Parents need to be involved in checking these spellings lists and practising spellings. For clarity and simplicity, all teachers must follow the literacy marking code: gr sp x 3 well written very well written you have made a grammatical error you have made a spelling error (circle word and rewrite 3 times). Write in spelling bank in back of book. NP or [ start a new paragraph? your writing does not make sense eg. give examples ^ a word/ detail is missing As of 01/09/2018 Page 5 of 11

TSPS proofreading code: As of 01/09/2018 Page 6 of 11

Appendix One: TSPS Reading Policy This policy explores: How TSPS promotes reading to improve students achievement across the curriculum. The variety of reading strategies the school aims to provide to enhance students reading The use of the school s library programme (learning centre and class libraries) as tools for engaging, developing and supporting confident lifelong readers. The school s commitment to and effectiveness towards whole-school development of reading across the curriculum. Reading is a vital skill that will support children s learning across the whole curriculum. As a school, we will ensure that our children are taught to read with fluency, accuracy and understanding through a variety of discreet and cross-curricular learning opportunities. Above all, we want children in our school to become enthusiastic, independent and reflective readers. Essentially, we want children to enjoy reading. In order for our children to fulfil their potential in reading we need as much parental support as possible and our aim, with this policy, is to demonstrate how school and home can work together. Our aims for reading are to: Instil children with a love of reading that lasts for their lifetime, share with them an enthusiasm for children s literature and help children to recognise the value of reading as a life skill. Encourage children to become enthusiastic and reflective readers by introducing them to good quality books, from a variety of cultures and in a range of different styles and formats. Enhance their reading within both Arabic and English Develop our children s understanding of a variety of text types including non-fiction, fiction, poetry and drama. Develop children s confidence, fluency, and independence when reading for different purposes. Develop children s abilities to reflect on and have an interest in what they have read and the language and punctuation choices made by the author. Use drama and role-play, where appropriate, to immerse children in the text. Ensure our children have sound phonic awareness and use a phonics first approach to reading. Use ICT systems to access and locate texts. Reading in lessons allows opportunity for: Students to have access to a range of complex and demanding texts, both fiction and non-fiction. All subjects have weekly comprehensions of texts built into their SOW Students to locate, collate and process information from a range of sources, including library texts and the internet; this is facilitated by new class libraries and reading lists for all students as well as the school s bring your own device policy Wider reading and reading for pleasure within the taught curriculum is an explicit part of the whole-school reading policy. Research shows that encouraging pupils to enjoy reading will have an impact on attainment; students have the opportunity to drop everything and read for 20 minutes weekly (10 minutes in form time and 10 minutes at the end of the week in English lessons) Students should be able to work out inferential meanings from textual material across all subjects. Explicit teaching of command terms and examiner expectations in different subjects is a key objective. As of 01/09/2018 Page 7 of 11

Students should develop an interest in words, their derivations and meanings in different subjects as a cross curricular focus on language; all subjects have weekly key words which are introduced to facilitate higher level questioning at the beginning of the lesson; all classrooms have word walls to enhance vocabulary use in lessons; teachers are aware of the expectations of vocabulary for GL PTE Teachers will draw students attention to structure, layout, form, print and other signposts in texts. Teachers will offer guidance on close reading of examination questions, with focus on key terms, stimulus statements and arguments; writing frames focus on response to specific question stems dependent on command word (see appendix three) All teachers base their questioning of texts on the reading skills ladder: Reading Skills promoted: Predicting You can make informed guesses about a text by predicting: What the text is going to be about? What will happen next? Skimming You can read quickly through a text in order to get a gist of what the text is about Scanning You can search a text for a specific word, phrase or number. Close reading When you pay close attention to the words, phrases and sentences you can build up your understanding of the meaning of a text. Questioning You can ask questions about a text to clarify your ideas. Empathising By putting yourself in someone else s shoes you can begin to empathise and feel what they feel Visualising Building a picture in your mind can help you to gain a better understanding of the text. Inferring By reading between the lines you can find meanings that are not initially obvious. As of 01/09/2018 Page 8 of 11

Appendix 3 Sample Departmental Writing Frames English: Creative and Persuasive Writing Arabic First Language: Point, Evidence, Analysis, Technique, Effect Maths: CUBE As of 01/09/2018 Page 9 of 11

Islamic B: PEATE Science: ATOM As of 01/09/2018 Page 10 of 11

Physical Education: PEAL Moral Education: PEATE As of 01/09/2018 Page 11 of 11