Literacy

Improved levels of literacy for all students continue to be a school improvement priority.  We all consider ourselves to be teachers of fundamental literacy skills in every subject area.
Reading, writing, speaking and listening are all taught specifically throughout the English curriculum in Years 7 – 11.  Writing in sentences and paragraphs, spelling, grammar and punctuation are all part of the Key Stage 4 examination syllabus’ and mark schemes.
When joining the school, students’ Key Stage 2 data supports our arrangements for teaching at the appropriate level of understanding, knowledge and skill development.  Additionally, early in Year 7, students are assessed for their ability to comprehend text and specifically supported to improve rapidly if they do not meet the nationally expected levels.  We use a reading scheme called Accelerated Reader and work in context with families to support individuals.

Also we use a further diagnostic test called LUCID.  This is used to assess all pupils’ literacy levels on an annual basis, beginning in Year 7.

In Key Stage 3 (Years 7 and 8) students who require small group support to rapidly improve their understanding and skills receive it. This is provided by the English department and for a fixed time only.   As students are continually assessed for their progress ability groups may be altered.

We know that literacy is one of the key features to success in future education and employment and, therefore, we place particular emphasis on teaching and assessing literacy skills.

There is a Literacy booklet download available at the bottom of this page.

Numeracy

Improved levels of numeracy for all students continue to be a school improvement priority.  We all consider ourselves to be teachers of fundamental numeracy skills in every subject area.

Multiplication, addition, estimation, subtraction, division, algebra, charts and graphs are all taught specifically throughout the mathematics curriculum in Years 7 – 11.  Numeracy methods such as accurate use of decimal places and a calculator, doubling and halving, equivalences, partitioning, inverse multiplication, using factors and brackets as well as statistical charts are all part of the Key Stage 4 examination syllabus’ and mark schemes. When joining the school, students’ Key Stage 2 data supports our arrangements for teaching at the appropriate level of understanding, knowledge and skill development.  Additionally students are continually assessed for their progress and maths ability groups may be altered. In Key Stage 3 (Years 7 and 8) students who require small group support to rapidly improve their understanding and skills receive it.

We know that numeracy is one of the key features to success in future education and employment, therefore we place particular emphasis on teaching and assessing numeracy skills.