‘Language and literacy provide us with the building blocks not just for academic success, but for fulfilling careers and rewarding lives’
At Shoreham Academy, we are working hard to promote our students’ literacy and ensure they all achieve to the very best of their ability. We believe all teachers are teachers of literacy, that every teacher communicates their subject through academic language, and that reading, writing, speaking and listening are at the heart of knowing.
We place high value on reading fluently, widely and often. Students are encouraged to read books across a variety of genres and authors. We have an excellent librarian and library facility we are proud of with a range of interesting books for every learner and all abilities. Every child in Y7 and Y8 is gifted a book each year. We also have ‘book drops’ in the RED (ReadEveryDay) boxes so students and teachers can pick up and swap a book any time they like.
How can you support your child at home?
- Be enthusiastic and encourage your child to be a reader: even if you are not.
- Ask questions; show an interest in what they are reading, get them to predict what might happen, who their favourite character is… it makes a massive difference.
- Reading at home can include listening to your child read, reading with them or simply making sure they are given the opportunity to read independently.
- Encourage your child to read a range of materials such as newspaper articles, blogs and non-fiction text as well as fiction. Many students prefer non-fiction like biographies or anthologies of shorter extracts, this is perfectly acceptable and should be encouraged.
- Graphic novels and comics can often engage even the most reluctant of readers.
- Test your child regularly on their spellings and encourage them to look up definitions of unfamiliar vocabulary in a dictionary.
- Encourage your child to check their written work for errors. Sometimes this can simply be a case of reading their work aloud to you or to themselves. This can often encourage students to see their own errors.
- Be as helpful as you can in helping your child write. Talk through their ideas with them; help them discover what they want to say. Sometimes writing out a short plan can really focus students and help them to structure their work more effectively.
Our whole school Literacy strategy is embedded across our curriculum and role modelled by all staff every day.
We base our strategies on our context and diagnostic assessment of need in school but also on informed research such as the approaches suggested by the EEF which can be found here.
Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools | EEF
We are always keen to hear your feedback on our approach to Literacy in school. Please do contact Suzi Butler Assistant Principal should you have any queries regarding literacy at Shoreham Academy
Suzanne.Butler@shoreham-academy.org