Literacy is the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realise his or her full potential.
Kofi Annan
Growing Excellent Literacy
In Brittons, every teacher is a teacher of literacy and informed by our work with the Educational Endowment Fund and the North London Teaching Alliance, we have created a whole school approach to reading and writing, the ‘Growing Excellent Literacy’ programme, that supports our students’ progress and allows them to excel across the curriculum. Through our catch up programme, we also provide bespoke support for those who find reading or writing more challenging.
Growing Excellent Reading
The ‘Growing Excellent Reading’ strand of the programme encompasses a range of approaches before, during and after reading informed by the latest research into literacy.
First. teachers choose from a range of pre-reading strategies. Secondly, they model reading to students and ask them to echo important words or phrases. Then students are asked to mark the text as they write – asking questions and finding key information. Finally, teachers use a variety of assessment techniques to ensure students have understood what they have read and to address any misconceptions. Staff are also encouraged to tailor their approach to their subject and have created their own departmental ‘Read like a…’ strategy. Please see the ‘Growing Excellent Reading’ Playbook below for further details.
Growing Excellent Writing and Talk
The ‘Growing Excellent Writing and Talk’ Programme, informed primarily by the work of Hochman, Wexler, Graff, Bernstein and Alex Quigley, aims to provide teachers with a consistent framework to teach writing that supports the specific disciplinary demands of their subject.
Staff use the PLEASED approach to plan, deliver and check both written and verbal work;
- Planning Ideas
- Linking Ideas with Connectives
- Expanding Ideas with Conjunctions and Appositives
- Articulating Ideas Using Varied Vocabulary
- Summarising Ideas using Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences
- Editing Ideas
- Developing accurate SPAG
As with reading, staff are encouraged to take a disciplinary approach to writing and talk, tailoring their approach to the demands of their subject and have created their own departmental ‘’Write like a…’ strategy. See the ‘Growing Excellent Writing and Talk Playbook’ for further details.
Form Time Literacy Programme
To support our ‘Growing Excellent Literacy’ whole school reading approach, students have a weekly literacy class in form time. In the first term, this focuses on reading strategies and fiction, the second on fluency and text marking and non fiction and the third on writing non fiction. The form time sessions allow students and teachers to hone literacy skills outside of the normal curriculum and ensure the Growing Excellent Literacy Programme is fully embedded in lessons.
Literacy Lessons
KS3 students also have a timetabled literacy lesson every week. One week this is a reading lesson in our well resourced library. And in the second week they have a writing lesson in their English class. These lessons are also an opportunity for students who are struggling with reading or writing to access some additional support. (see catch up programme below).
Home Learning – Sparx Reader
Sparx Reader is an online reading tool that offers access to tens of thousands of high quality books. It also periodically checks student understanding through short quizzes that accrue points. As a student progresses through Sparx Reader they choose more challenging texts to support their reading development. If a text is too challenging, they will be offered something more appropriate as they develop. All KS3 Students are required to complete Sparx Reader homework once a week. They need to achieve 300 Sparx Points (about 30 minutes reading) weekly. The Sparx programme also allows us to conduct a termly test of all students to assess their progress and see if they need further support.
Reading Catch Up Programme
Students who need to catch up with their reading skills participate in our Reading Catch Up Programme. Students who need extra support are initially identified by their performance in their Sparx Reader Termly test. They then take a more detailed diagnostic test, the FFT Assessment, that determines their specific need (for example a problem with decoding a particular phoneme), They then have a bespoke programme (using Precision Reading and Little Wandle) of intervention focused on that need. Students are then re-tested termly and intervention continues until they have caught up with their peers.
Reading Mentors and Buddies
Another way we support students who find reading more challenging is through our Reading Mentor Scheme. The reading mentors are a group of our best year 10 readers who meet with a year 7 reader weekly to read to and listen to them read. Also, a small group of our best year 7 readers mentor a group of primary school students at our Partner Primary, Whybridge. In helping other students read, both the mentors and the buddies improve their own reading fluency and confidence.
Reading Experts
In order to extend our best readers, we also have a reading expert group that meets weekly in the library. This group read and discuss a wide variety of very challenging texts (for example an Economist article) to extend the ambition and scope of their reading.
The Library
The school is lucky to have a fantastic and well used library managed by our librarian, Ms Terrey. The library is open from 9.30-4.15 every day. Year 7 and 8 students have a library lesson every fortnight and all students can visit the library at break and lunch time and after school. For more details see our library page.
National Year of Reading – Fostering a Love of Reading
The school also hosts a wide range of events that promote and celebrate our love of reading. We have a variety of competitions and events on World Book Day, all year 7 students receive a free book through Book Buzz, we have Author Visits, conduct Spelling Beea and other competitions and also participate annually in the Speak Out Challenge. The library, with its array of new books and classics and comfortable reading environment is the hub of reading at Brittons and can be enjoyed by readers every break and lunch time and after school.
Every children’s book should have a path in it where the writer stops and the child goes on. A threat or a delight that can never be explained. A face never completely revealed.
Tove Jansson
Parental Support for Literacy
There are lots of ways parents can help students with their literacy. Here are a few suggestions;
- Use the Punctuation Posters and Grammar Support resources below to support your child’s understanding of key foundational knowledge
- Work your way through the reading lists below. Don’t be afraid to read to and with your child – we adopt a modelled reading approach with students to model excellent reading.
- Work through the key vocabulary lists below. Ask your child to spell words but also to use them in a sentence.
- Check your child’s progress on Sparx Reader. Ask them about what they are reading.
- Encourage your child to discuss their learning and their progress. What have they learnt today in school? What do they remember? What questions do they have? Use our curriculum resources to prompt them if they are reluctant/unsure.
The world changes according to the way people see it, and if a book can alter, even by a millimetre, the way a person looks or people look at reality, then it can change it
James Baldwin
Useful Websites and Links
Growing Excellent Reading
Growing Excellent Reading Playbook
Growing Excellent Writing and Talk
Growing Excellent Writing Playbook
Reading Lists
Vocabulary Lists
Sparx Reader
A parent’s guide to Sparx Reader