Literacy Policy Tick as appropriate: There has been a change to the previous policy reviewed October 2011 or There has not been a change to the previous policy reviewed October 2011 Approved by Curriculum Committee: (Date) 7 November 2013 Signed by Chair of Committee: S McMillan Ratified by the Full Board of Governors on: 13 November 2013 Signed Chair of Governors: Review Date: S Eastwood Within 4 years of above date
The Literacy Policy Aim The Highcrest Academy is committed to raising the standards of literacy of all of its students so that they develop the ability to use literacy skills effectively in all areas of the curriculum. They will use these skills as a platform to cope confidently with the demands of further education, employment and adult life. Rationale Literacy underpins the school curriculum by developing students abilities to speak, listen and communicate, to think, explore and organise. This includes helping students to express themselves orally and in writing. All departments and all teachers have a crucial role to play in supporting students literacy development. Competent literacy skills also enable pupils to read, understand and access examination materials, so that pupils are able to achieve their educational potential across the curriculum. Competent literacy skills also enable pupils to read, understand and access examination materials, so that pupils are able to achieve their educational potential across the curriculum. Personalised learning involves designing teaching, curriculum and school strategies to create a coherent learning system tailored to the individual pupil. Literacy across the curriculum can be approached in this way as a pupil s progress in literacy is related to their ability to think and learn. Literacy opens up personal pathways to success and is central to personal expression and active participation in the society, economy and culture. Pupils should be taught in all subjects to express themselves correctly and appropriately and to read accurately and with understanding QCA Use of language Across the Curriculum All teachers are teachers of literacy. As such, teachers at The Highcrest Academy are committed to developing literacy skills in all of our pupils, in belief that it will support their learning and raise standards across the curriculum. Pupils need vocabulary, expression and organisational control to cope with the cognitive demands of the subjects 2013.doc Page 2 of 9
Reading helps us learn from resources beyond our immediate experience Writing helps is to sustain and order thought Language helps us to reflect, revise and evaluate things we do, and on things others have said, written or done. Responding to higher order questions encourages the development of thinking skills and enquiry Improving literacy and learning can have an impact on pupil s self esteem, on motivation and behaviour. It allows them to learn independently. It is empowering. All schemes of work and all lessons, will include specific literacy objectives. These objectives will inform what is taught, how it is taught, what is learned and how it is learned. Literacy should also form part of lesson plenaries when it is appropriate to the focus of the lesson. The New Teaching Standards and the New OfSTED evaluation schedule According to the new Teachers Standards which come into force on 1 September 2012, teachers must demonstrate an understanding of and take responsibility for promoting high standards of literacy, articulacy and the correct use of standard English, whatever the teacher s specialist subject. This is reinforced by the new OfSTED evaluation schedule from January 2012: Inspectors will consider how well pupils develop a range of skills, including reading, writing and communication. They will use a range of evidence from lessons across the curriculum: observation of lessons and other learning activities and discussions with staff and senior leaders scrutiny of pupils work to assess standards, progress and the quality of learning of pupils currently in the school discussions with pupils about their work listening to pupils read and checking on their rate of progress to assess their standard of, and progress in, reading with a particular focus on weaker readers. Formatted: Bullets and Numbering Implementation at Whole School Level Language is the prime medium through which pupils learn and express themselves across the curriculum, and all teachers have a stake in effective literacy. Roles and Responsibilities Pupils: take increasing responsibility for recognising their own literacy needs and making improvements 2013.doc Page 3 of 9
Parents: encourage their children to use the range of strategies they have learned to improve their levels of literacy English Department: provides pupils with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to read, write, speak and listen effectively Teachers across the curriculum contribute to pupils development of language, since speaking, listening, writing and reading are integral to all lessons Literacy Co-ordinator: supports departments in the implementation of strategies and encourages departments to learn from each other s practice by sharing ideas Senior Leadership: lead and give a high profile to literacy Governors: an identified governor could meet with staff and pupils and report progress and issues to the governing body and to parents in the governors annual report. Across the academy, teachers will: Identify the strengths and weaknesses in students work from across the school Use the framework objectives as a way of planning for assessing literacy skills Adapt the identified literacy cross-curricular priorities for each year and use these to develop the Basic Literacy Skills throughout the school Plan to include the teaching of objectives to support learning in own subject area. The Framework for Literacy and Learning The framework for literacy and learning identifies three main areas for development: Learning through talk Reading and Learning from text Learning through writing These main areas can be sub-categorised as: Learning through talk/speaking and listening: Using talk to clarify and present ideas Active listening to understand Talking and thinking together Reading and Learning from text: Developing research and study skills Reading for meaning Understanding how texts work 2013.doc Page 4 of 9
Learning through writing: Using writing as a tool for thought Structuring and organising writing Developing clear and appropriate expression Learning through Talk/Speaking and Listening Talk is our main means of communication in everyday life and is fundamental to the development of understanding. We want our students to develop increasing confidence and competence in Speaking and Listening so that they are able to: Clarify and present their ideas and explain and develop their thinking Develop their ability to listen actively and respond sensitively and appropriately Adapt their speech to suit a wide range of circumstances, including paired and group discussion and speaking to a larger audience Use varied and specialised vocabulary, including subject specific vocabulary Speak for a range of purposes eg, to narrate, to analyse, to explain, to reflect and evaluate Recall the main points of a presentation, reflecting on what has been heard to ask searching questions, make comments or challenge the views expressed Identify and report the main points emerging from discussion Provide an explanation or commentary which links words with actions or images Use talk to question, hypothesise, speculate, evaluate, solve problems and develop thinking about complex issues and ideas Use standard English to explain, explore or justify ideas Identify the underlying themes, implications and issues raised by a talk, reading or programme Discuss and evaluate conflicting evidence to arrive at a considered personal viewpoint. In order to achieve this, teaching plans will include specific reference to purposeful pupil Speaking and Listening. This involves, as appropriate: Structuring tasks in lessons so that students know the purpose for their listening, providing note-taking frames as appropriate Planning carefully the size and organisation of groups, matching these to the purpose of the activity, ability of the pupils and the desired learning outcomes Model effective examples of successful speaking and listening for pupils Evaluate speaking and listening activities through teacher and AFL 2013.doc Page 5 of 9
Give pupils the opportunity to deliver formal Speaking and Listening presentations, in all subjects and, when appropriate, use these presentations as part of the formal assessment process The role of the teacher is to raise pupils awareness of the strategies and skills involved when developing their Speaking and Listening skills. Reading and learning from texts Students should enjoy reading and be able to use their reading to help them to learn and to develop increasing confidence and competence in reading so that they are able to: Read fluently, accurately and with understanding Become independent and critical readers who make informed and appropriate choices Select information from a wide range of texts and sources including print, media and ICT and to evaluate those sources Apply techniques such as skimming, scanning and text-marking effectively in order to research and appraise texts The SEN Department assesses pupils throughout Key Stage 3 in order to ascertain what the individual pupil s reading age is. Student reading ages are available on the common drive to help teachers make informed choices about appropriate texts and to plan appropriate support for students in order that they may successfully access texts. Independent reading and research is encouraged through the following; Interactive displays of reading material relevant to the topic or national curriculum subject; each classroom displays subject specific vocabulary which pupils are encouraged to use regularly Access to high quality ICT and high quality reading material, which is up to date, relevant and balanced in its presentation of ethnicity, culture and gender Pupils have access to the school Learning Resource Centre Pupils have access to a good quality range of texts during lessons Pupils have access to quality reading resources during form time, where book boxes contain a good range of up to date texts. Some Form periods are used to encourage reading for pleasure. Dictionaries, glossaries and lists of appropriate subject vocabulary are readily available during lessons, which students are encouraged to use. The teaching plans within the school include explicit reference to the literacy skills or strategies to be used, taught or reinforced. The plans include, as appropriate: 2013.doc Page 6 of 9
Making clear the intended purposes of reading within the curriculum area eg, describe, repeat, interpret or analyse texts read Teaching, and giving opportunities to practise skimming for overall meaning, scanning for key points, words or phrases, or close reading Teaching, and giving opportunities to practise sifting and selecting information and taking notes from texts Teaching, and enabling pupils to infer and deduce meanings, recognising the writer s intentions Teaching and giving opportunities to research and investigate from printed words, moving images and ICT texts Teaching how to use quotations selectively to support points and link them to students own comments. Learning through Writing Many lessons include and depend on written communication. Students are encouraged to develop increasing confidence and competence in writing so that they are able to: Write in a widening variety of forms for different purposes eg, to interpret, evaluate, explain, analyse and explore Develop ideas and communicate meaning to a reader using wideranging and technical vocabulary and effective style, organising and structuring sentences grammatically and whole texts coherently Present their writing clearly using accurate punctuation, correct spelling and legible handwriting Apply word-processing conventions and understand the principles of authoring multi-media text. The school s units of work and assessment practices make clear: The purpose and intended audience for each piece of writing How pre-structured writing (writing frames) is used and gradually withdrawn as appropriate The vocabulary related to specialist subjects and the use of helpful spelling strategies The relevant ways of paragraphing writing and linking paragraphs How students are helped to develop the ability to synthesise information from different sources Extended Writing Assessment and Monitoring: The Highcrest Academy has a Whole School Marking Policy which identifies the key aspects of Literacy that each department addresses in their marking of pupils work. 2013.doc Page 7 of 9
The following abbreviations will be used to mark students work for aspects of literacy and indicate the corrections that should be made to the writing: G grammatical error sp spelling error p punctuation error lc lower case used not a capital cap capital letter should have been used // begin a new paragraph here / begin a new line here? something does not make sense or it is unreadable Inclusion Differentiation Highcrest Academy pupils are entitled to our highest expectations and support. Some will need additional support and others will need to be challenged and extended. 1. The More Able We will continue to: Identify more able pupils through the Gifted and Talented programme Seek to: Promote ways of structuring learning for more able pupils by using Framework objectives Develop a teaching repertoire which supports and challenges able pupils. 2. English as an Additional Language Our pupils learning EAL need to hear good examples of spoken English and also to refer to their first language skills to aid new learning in all subjects of the curriculum. The use of their first language enables them to draw on existing subject knowledge and to develop English language skills in context. 3. SEND We will teach our pupils with special educational needs appropriately, supporting their learning and providing them with challenges matched to their needs, through using a range of teaching strategies such as guided group work, writing frames and oral activities. 2013.doc Page 8 of 9
ICT The use of ICT across departments throughout the school continually helps promote and develop the literacy levels of pupils through the drafting and redrafting of documents, editing and spell-checking. Within the ICT Department, literacy skills are supported through a range of activities which help develop pupils learning. Examples include the checking of grammar and spelling, editing of documents, using different forms of communication and media. These are all explained more clearly in the ICT Department Handbook. Use of the Learning Resource Centre The library fully supports the whole school approach to literacy. In particular, the whole school focus on reading is supported through the Year 7 and 8 Accelerated Reader Programme. This involves students reading books at the appropriate reading age and taking quizzes on these books. This scheme is completed both during an English lesson in the library and spending a registration session in the library each week. 2013.doc Page 9 of 9