LITERACY POLICY

Rationale

We aim to provide a supportive, stimulating and secure environment where

children are encouraged to express themselves and where their contributions are valued. We will provide for the language development of pupils and will develop their ability to use language to think, to explore and to recognise and communicate their ideas.

Principles

  • We believe that every pupil has a right to fully develop their literacy skills regardless of their ability.
  • Every teacher will be responsible for the development of literacy across all areas of the curriculum.

Aims

1. To maintain the highest standards of literacy at all times.

2. To enable pupils to express and communicate meaning in spoken language,

listening to and interpreting what others say and matching style and response

to audience, context and purpose;

3. To provide pupils with a range of relevant and purposeful opportunities to

develop their ability to read, understand and engage with various types of text

for enjoyment and learning;

4. To enable children to communicate using written language effectively, making

and shaping text appropriately, according to context, purpose, reader or audience.

Role of the Teacher

In the teaching of literacy, the teacher fulfils a number of roles in all modes

of language.

a) Model: as a skilled user of language, the teacher’s role is the central element of fostering positive attitudes towards literacy;

b) Facilitator: providing a supportive and stimulating environment, organising purposeful activities and enabling children to develop literacy skills;

c) Initiator: providing a variety of resources and opportunities for a wide range of balanced activities to encourage the development of skills in talking, listening, reading and writing;

d) Monitor: observing and recording the development of skills in literacy;

e) Assessor: evaluating and assessing the development of skills in literacy;

f) Collaborator: working with children to assist in their development.

Talking and Listening

Rationale

Talking and listening are fundamental skills upon which the educational development of our children depends.

Through the development of oral and aural skills, they learn about language and this equips them to demonstrate and refine their learning.

Our overall aim is for our children to become efficient language users. This

will be achieved by devoting time, energy and resources to the development

of oral communication. Through purposeful interaction with teachers,

children will be provided with experiences that develop their skills and their

thinking.

Learning environment

(to include activities both inside andoutside the classroom)

The learning environment will be one in which children feel ‘relaxed, accepted and

affirmed’ at all times. Talk will be planned for both within schemes monthly notes

and topic planners. All children will be encouraged to talk and all contributions will be

equally valued. It will be emphasised in all classrooms that talk is work. Topics will be

of interest to both boys and girls thus encouraging talk from both genders.

Teaching approaches and organisation of learning

  • Talk will be planned for in all areas of the curriculum.
  • Experiences and activities to promote a wide range of types of talk will beprovided.
  • Talking and listening will be valued for social, communicative and cognitive

purposes.

  • Classroom organisation and management will vary as appropriate to the occasion

e.g. use of pairs, small and large groups; varying composition of groups; varying roles in groups.

  • The teacher’s role in modelling oral language will be of great important in the

classroom.

  • Teacher will use a wide range of resources and display e.g. interest tables, voice recorders, book displays, television and radio, computer software.
  • The link with reading and writing will be emphasised at all times.
  • Community of enquiry.
  • Circle time.
  • Class council meetings.
  • Infusion of thinking skills

Reading

Rationale

Our aims are that our children will learn to read, will enjoy a wide variety of

texts and will become independent, critical, life-long readers and learners.

Learning environment

The classroom / school will be a place where reading is given its rightful importance

and where children – girls and boys – feel inspired to read. Books and other sources

of reading will be displayed attractively in both the class and school libraries. The

range of texts in these libraries will be varied and will cater for the needs of all ages

and both genders. A wide range of both fiction and non-fiction books will be

available. There will be books suitable for the full range of learners. A range of

other reading materials will also be available to include comics, magazines on a range of topics. Newspapers will also be available. Children’s own work will be available to read and will be on display around the school.

Teaching approaches and organisation of learning

In order to facilitate pupils varied learning styles, a range of approaches to learning

will be employed. These will include:

  • Regular reading to children in all classes P1-P7;
  • Look and say;
  • Paired reading;
  • Developing phonological awareness through rhyme;
  • Phonics;
  • Language experience, combining writing and reading;
  • Guided reading;
  • Shared reading with Big Books;
  • Uninterrupted, sustained, silent reading (USSR);
  • Visits from a librarian or to a local library or mobile library;
  • Group novels from end of Key Stage 1;
  • Use of environmental print;
  • Reading from computer, the IWB and the IPAD2

Non-fiction / reading for information

Reading for the purposes of study requires specific skills. These will be taught in

context where appropriate. These skills will include the following:

  • Extracting information from books using the contexts pages or index;
  • Classifying information by alphabetical order;
  • Using dictionaries;
  • Using a computer database;
  • Using reference material such as encyclopaedias, atlases, directories,
  • timetables, brochures, computer programmes, CD Roms, internet;
  • Formulating questions which require a search for information;
  • Skimming a text to get an impression of what it is about;
  • Scanning a text to search for specific information;
  • Making notes, selecting what is relevant and appropriate;
  • Distinguishing between fact and opinion in evaluating information.

Progression

Reading Scheme: OxfordReading Tree and Collins Big Cats.

This provides a range of books, to include fiction, non-fiction, pattern and rhyme,

poetry and plays.

This encourages a wide variety of teaching approaches to include phonics, look and

say and informational retrieval.

From end of Key Stage 1, the children will read a range of novels and a range of

activities will be used with these. These activities will be based on the latest

research into thinking skills and will encourage the use of text evidence.

Writing

Rationale

Writing is an essential tool in the learning process. Children write to

express their emotions, to convey their thoughts and opinions and to

present evidence of research. By developing these skills we can equip our

children to use writing across the range of curricular activities in which

they are involved.

Our aim is that our children will develop the ability to write effectively in

various forms according to purpose and audience.

Learning environment

All teachers aim to provide a stimulating environment where children are encouraged

and inspired to write. In the Foundation Stage classrooms children will play at writing in the

house corner. In all classrooms there will be a variety of stimuli such as dictionaries,

thesauri, work banks, wall lists, the word processor, including a variety of different

writing implements.

There will be displays of writing by children themselves, throughout the school and

where appropriate, the children’s work will be made into anthologies or Big Books to

re-read in the library area.

Teaching approaches and organisation of learning

  • At an appropriate time examples of various forms of writing will be displayed

and discussed so that children become familiar with the structure and language

features of these forms e.g. letters, diaries, lists, invitations, notes, etc.

  • A variety of audiences will be provided. Children will write for themselves,

their peers, the school, their parents, and a range of other outside groups.

  • The purpose of the writing will be made clear to children before they begin e.g.

are they trying to amuse, persuade, inform or frighten the reader?

  • Teachers will show children how to approach a writing task by writing

themselves, explaining what they are doing as they go along (modelled writing)

and by scribing the children’s ideas onto large sheets (shared writing).

  • Writing sessions will include time for discussion and planning.
  • Children will be encouraged to revise and redraft as part of the overall process

of writing. This will be done in consultation with the teacher and their peers.

  • Children will engage in collaborative writing in small groups from time to time,

using the word processor as often as possible.

  • Spelling will be taught using a variety of methods to accommodate a range of

learners. A cursive scriptfor handwriting will be taught to children from P4.

  • Teachers respond to children’s writing in order to create improvement. Where

possible, comments will be made to the child in person, thus allowing two ways

interaction. Written comments will be positive as far as possible and will be

used to encourage the children to make further progress.

Parental involvement

Parents as a vital part of school life and in the Wallace Preparatory Department, we believe thateducation should be a partnership between children, parents and teachers.

Parental involvement is vital in order to help children develop to their full potential.

Parents will be involved through homework, reading, reports, parents’ evenings, P1

induction, etc.Where appropriate, parents would be invited to school to help or to give talks orpresentations.

Homework

From P3 upwards, there will be purposeful homework when deemed necessary by the class teacher. There would also be reading and spellings done at home. Parents are encouraged to work closely with their child. From P1 upwards, children read at home. On occasions, homework of a research nature may be set.

Equal opportunities

There is a need to raise standards of literacy among boys. In Wallace, we will

provide a wide range of non-fiction material to encourage boys to read. We will also

provide a range of comics and fiction designed to appeal to boys. It is, of course,

important that girls do not suffer as a result and we aim to raise standards among all

children equally.

Assessment

  • We would regard assessment as on-going and so use both formative and

summative assessment.

  • At the end of Key Stage 1 and 2 a range of Assessment Units may be used in

order to formally assess the children’s progress. We also use NFER / Nelson

reading tests from P3 upwards.

  • The co-ordinator monitors literacy throughout the school. This includes

perusing displays or samples of work, staff discussion of progression within classes, between classes and over time. It would involve children’s self-evaluation, talking to children about their work, staff development and training.

Resources

A wide range of resources will be used to include cassette recorders, audio tapes,

television, video, camera, digital camera, computer programs, library of fiction and

non-fiction, language games, text books, novels and Reading Scheme with associated material.

UICT

A wide variety of ICT resources to include interactive white boards will be used to

develop literacy. These include a range of laptops and PCs, television and video and

tape recorders. A range of programmes are used to develop literacy skills. Every teacher will use ICT to promote talking, listening, reading, writing, collaborative work, editing and cross-curricular work. CD Roms and the internet are used to further reading for information and library skills.

The school has recently invested in the IPAD2 and literacy skills are reinforced through the use of APPs.

Written – September 2011

Next review – September 2014