YSGOL RHOSNESNI HIGH SCHOOL LITERACY POLICY
Context Ysgol Rhosnesni High School is committed to raising standards of literacy in all areas. It aims to improve skills in the strands of Reading, Writing and Speaking and Listening through the development and implementation of policies and strategies; to operate effective monitoring and information systems to enable progress to be revised and evaluated. Real progress requires a programme of action which involves the commitment and participation of all members of the school, integrating literacy considerations into all activities and concerns within school life. The promotion of literacy is a reinforcement of the values and aims of the school enabling pupils to achieve academically to their potential and also to be able to participate fully in society as active confident citizens capable of making a positive contribution to the life of the community. Literacy is an essential element in Education for Life. Literacy is the key to the academic, intellectual and personal development of children and adults. Its skills are essential to every pupil s future; it encompasses the elements of the common requirement Communication Skills as set out in the National Curriculum Orders for Wales and should be understood in its broadest and most inclusive sense. There is considerable overlap between literacy, key skills and basic skills; they are mutually supportive. All three aim, at various levels, to develop the ability to read, write and speak English. at a level necessary to function and progress at work and in society in general (Basic Skills Agency). They are inclusive whole school issues. It is the purpose of this document to outline the aims of Rhosnesni High School to further development of literacy within the school community. This is a working document that will be subject to periodic review. The appendices are meant to provide ideas, elaboration material and general materials which faculties might find useful. As such they will be subject to more frequent review than the main policy
Statement of Intent In order to attain our goal of raising the achievement of all pupils by seeking to develop their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills we aim to:- Raise the profile of literacy within the school Raise overall standards of literacy Make literacy teaching an overt part of every curriculum area To do this we must aim to:- Create a positive and attractive environment which celebrates speaking, listening, reading and writing Ensure that use of the library is integrated, as appropriate into pupils learning Provide positive role models in the form of older pupils and staff Raise parents awareness of the central role and importance of literacy in their children s development Ensure that there are planned activities in the curriculum to allow pupils to learn, develop and practice their range of literacy skills Encourage the use of dictionaries, thesaurus and ICT programmes to support individual learning Ensure that a range of reading materials is available at appropriate levels of interest and difficulty and balanced in its representation of culture and gender Ensure subject areas are teaching the literacy elements central to their curriculum delivery as identified in the National Curriculum and also to identify it as a key skill Provide support / training on teaching literacy To ensure that advice to and support in school for improving standards of literacy is rooted in a common policy To express the shared understanding of the central role that language and literacy plays in learning, educational progress and achievement To ensure that it is a key skill pervading all schemes of work To establish further links outside the school e.g. Basic Skills Agency, Wrexham Library, the LEA feeder primary schools to promote the importance of literacy skills
Implications for Teaching and Learning The school will attempt to support fully the emphasis on developing literacy across the curriculum. In order to raise attainment it is necessary for pupils to develop their language skills in the context of all areas of the curriculum. This requires time and emphasis needs to be given to: Structured teaching of the language demands of individual subjects; Developing pupils oral skills within the context of the subject Teaching and developing pupils control of reading to learn about the subject Teaching and developing pupils control of the forms of writing required by the subject Teaching The school will aim to promote teaching in all areas that is: Discursive characterised by high quality oral work Interactive encouraging, expecting and extending pupils contributions Well paced driven by a sense of urgency and the need to make progress and succeed Confident with teachers having a clear understanding of teaching objectives Ambitious with optimism about and high expectations of success for all pupils
Each subject is to be expected to raise literacy standards as appropriate within their curriculum area Strategies to achieve this could include: Providing planned opportunities for pupils to practise the skills relevant to their department Identifying subject specific reading and writing demands Identifying appropriate subject specific vocabulary / key words and glossaries Providing materials to enhance and support individual research Providing structures to support writing Developing strategies to enhance technical accuracy in pupil s work Improving the quality and usefulness of display Enhancing and developing the use of the library/ learning resource centre Enhancing and developing the use of ICT Directing - so that pupils are clear what they should be doing and why Demonstrating- so that pupils see how to use particular skills and strategies Modelling so that pupils see the processes of spoken and written standard English being used Scaffolding so that pupils are supported in their completion of tasks Explanation so that pupils have key points discussed and clarified Questioning so that pupils reflect on and refine their work, extend their ideas and develop their understanding Initiating exploration so that pupils develop understanding and explore relationships in language Guiding investigations so that pupils understand, expand on and generalise about ideas Arguing and criticising so that pupils develop their ability to express points of view, argue a case and express a preference Listening to and responding so that pupils contributions are stimulated and extended Evaluating and assessing so that pupils are given feedback on their strengths and specific advice on how to improve
Role of the Literacy Co-ordinator All staff led by the school s Leadership Team and the Literacy Co-ordinator share responsibility for promoting literacy across the curriculum in a coherent and co-ordinated way Key Aims To work towards Raising the profile of literacy within the school Raising the standards of literacy Making literacy teaching an overt part of every curriculum area In order to achieve these aims the literacy co-ordinator, supported by the leadership team, should employ a wide-ranging variety of strategies These could include: Co-ordinate the development and production of a school literacy policy When appropriate co-ordinate any literacy elements which form part of school in-service days Work with the leadership team and others to monitor progress in the development and integration of literacy strategies into all subjects across the curriculum Support subject areas in the development of current literacy strategies into schemes of work Identify appropriate resources which support literacy across the curriculum Work with staff to provide a range of reading materials at appropriate levels of interest and difficulty and which is balanced in its representation of culture and gender Encourage the cross curricular use of dictionaries, thesaurus and ICT programmes to support individual learning Work with learning areas to make the library/ resource centre an integral part of the pupils learning Involve older pupils as literacy role models Work with the LEA literacy advisor to further cross curricular development of literacy issues Work towards creating a positive and attractive environment which celebrates pupil achievement in literacy Ensure that governors and parents are informed of literacy developments as appropriate
Appendix 1 Qualities of a literate pupil Literate pupils should: Read and write with confidence, fluency and understanding Understand the sound and spelling system and use strategies to spell accurately Have fluent and legible handwriting Have an interest in words and their meanings and a growing vocabulary Know understand and be able to write in a range of genres in fiction and poetry and understand and be familiar with ways that narratives are structured through basic literacy ideas of setting character and plot Understand, use and be able to write in a range of non- fiction texts Plan, draft, revise and edit their own writing Have a suitable technical vocabulary through which to understand and discuss their reading and writing Be interested in books, read with enjoyment and evaluate and justify preferences Through reading and writing, develop powers of imagination, inventiveness and critical awareness
Appendix 2 Ideas for developing whole school literacy A Literacy Top Ten Developing a Whole School Literacy Develop annotation strategies for pupils (How to.take notes, make bullet points etc) Encourage more pair work in the classroom writing need not be a solitary activity Use key word lists for new topics etc display them (in the classroom, in pupil notebooks, on list to parents etc) Encourage the development of glossaries too an extension of keywords (definitions as well as the words themselves) Ensure that writing frames are never used as a death by worksheet substitute but instead developed in collaboration with pupils wherever possible Be explicit with pupils about the linguistic features of any kind of writing they do ensure that teachers in all subjects know what these are Audit the use of the six key non-fiction text types across the curriculum who is doing what and with what frequency Get rid of the tyranny of drafting in continuous prose only draft in this format when appropriate Work to develop a simple common marking policy (perhaps no more that five symbols for pupils to get to know) Develop the practice of marking for a specific linguistic purpose (e.g. correct use of tense) in addition to subject specific content in each subject but only when appropriate for that subject content Be conscious of the deliberate move to helping pupils become better independent writers and as a result, better commentators on both their writing and the writing of others
Appendix 3 Ideas about literacy The Literate school provides opportunities for pupils to improve their skills in speaking and listening, reading and writing across the curriculum and provides opportunities for staff to become knowledgeable about the NLS; Invites governor to become involved Creates a budget for staffing and resources Provides INSET for staff Encourages a staff structure of literacy co-ordinators in each subject Creates time for staff to annolate schemes of work for literacy Provides opportunities for teachers to support each other Recognises progress Teaching literacy takes into account that pupils do not transfer knowledge about writing from one subject to another: Subject teachers should teach the special skills of reading and writing demanded by individual subjects Each teacher should draw attention to specific word, sentence and text level features of writing when teaching their subject Specialist vocabulary (and the associated spelling rules) should be taught in specific subjects Reading in subjects is best promoted by giving time to texts The use of writing frames and other supporting structures promotes subject specific writing skills The Literate classroom provides an environment in which pupils can learn not only subject content but how to learn read and write about subject content by: providing literacy supportive display that promotes pupils learning and celebrates their achievements providing readily acceptable dictionaries providing opportunities for discussion considering resources that enhance literacy support, such as OHPs providing reading materials that are supportive of and additional to schemes of work Teachers aware of literacy continue to ask questions about literacy support Through all areas of learning: Do all pupils come to lessons properly equipped? The pupil planner contains a list of basic equipment do we need to heighten our observance of this aspect of school provision? Should we have whole school policies on the layout of written work and the condition of exercise books? How do we ensure that pupils have a planner and how do we ensure that they use them? How do we create and monitor literacy targets for all pupils? How do we ensure that pupils and parents realise that we see whole school literacy as a key to raising standards across the school? Can we use literacy awareness to improve the achievement of boys?
Appendix 4 Developing a departmental policy: Curriculum skills audit Speaking and Listening Which speaking and listening skills are necessary in your department in order for students to make progress? Essential Desirable Peripheral The ability to: KS3 KS4 KS3 KS4 KS3 KS4 Listen attentively to the teacher Listen attentively to other students Listen attentively to video/audio tape Explore and speculate Offer an opinion Ask questions in class Be part of a presentation Undertake an individual presentation Take part in role play Participate in group work
Reading Which reading skills are necessary in your department in order for students to make progress? Essential Desirable Peripheral The ability to: KS3 KS4 KS3 KS4 KS3 KS4 Read aloud to an audience Select information accurately Compare information from different sources Use Dewey classification to retrieve information Infer and deduce Skim and scan Read for pleasure Read around the subject Read silently Use ICT text to gather information Distinguish between fact and opinion
Writing Which writing skills are necessary in your department in order for students to make progress? Essential Desirable Peripheral The ability to: KS3 KS4 KS3 KS4 KS3 KS4 Write in a legible, joined cursive style Plan and draft Organise writing into clear sentences Paragraph longer pieces Use punctuation to enhance meaning Copy correctly Spell accurately subject vocabulary Spell accurately general spellings Write in a range of forms: Letter informal/formal Newspaper report essay creative evaluation in response to reading using symbols
Appendix 5 Appendix E.A.L.: Ideas for incorporation of E.A.L. into updates of faculty policies To take account of the needs of all pupils including the more able, those with special educational needs and for whom English is an additional language For E.A.L. learners speaking and listening activities should provide opportunities for them to: *Interact with competent English speakers *Talk in their mother tongues where helpful e.g. taking on a new concept or skill *Provide opportunities for inexperienced readers of English to read in pairs or small groups *Provide differentiated reading materials where appropriate *Provide structured frames to support pupils reading Lessons will aim to make connections between pupils reading and writing so that pupils have clear models for writing *Provide a model for the process of writing *Provide a variety of differentiated frameworks to assist pupils in their writing *Help pupils to plan, draft and evaluate their writing where appropriate *Set writing tasks which have clear and immediate purposes Assessment will aim to *Give priority to content ideas and meaning when responding to pupils work *Respond constructively to pupils writing *Use assessment of pupils writing to plan future work Lessons should aim to *Make connections between pupils reading and writing so pupils have clear models for their writing *Use the modelling process to make explicit to pupils how to write *Be clear about audience and purpose *Provide opportunities for a range of writing including sustained writing Give E.A.L. pupils opportunities to hear good examples of spoken English and also to refer to their first language skills to aid new learning Use of first languages enables pupils to draw on existing subject knowledge and develop English language skills in context. E.g. a group of pupils could learn about paragraph organisation in their mother tongue.