Learning at ASALiteracy
Literacy at All Saints’ Academy
As part of our commitment to improving literacy standards, we take part in daily reading in MGP. Each tutor group has a class reader, which they read daily and swap as the year progresses. Most tutor groups read an extra 3-6 books this way. The books are all age-appropriate, a mixture of fiction and non-fiction, ranging from contemporary to classics. Both students and tutors alike enjoy starting the day this way. Not only does this activity help with our students’ reading skills, but also their fluency and oracy, as part of this time is given to students and tutors reading aloud. Year 11s also take part in daily reading, but rather than a class reader, Year 11 practice their skills with revision materials from core subjects.
Alongside this, for our Year 7 and 8 students, we run the Accelerated Reader Scheme through the English curriculum; this allows for all students to regularly take part in library lessons as the norm. The system is used to help students read books that maximise their progress and continuously develop their reading skills. Monthly awards are given to individual students and classes who perform well and make short-term progress, and we have our annual AR celebration in the summer term to award all of those students who have committed to their reading throughout the year.
It is not only reading that we value at ASA, but writing, vocabulary and oracy too. Across the school, in all year groups, departments plan for specific oracy activities to allow students to discuss and debate ideas in addition to formal and informal individual and group presentations. There is also a range of extracurricular activities we promote for oracy, including the CEP poetry slam and debating competitions against other schools.
In terms of writing, students have regular planned opportunities to write across the curriculum, with specific focus being put on the stages of planning and drafting to help students think about writing as a process. The English department has introduced the 200-word challenge, which encourages idea generation and free-writing without the constraints of more formal activities; this has helped to build confidence in our lower years and reduce writing anxiety. Furthermore, cross-curricular approaches to writing at KS3 help students write better in the long term as they regularly practice writing accurately.
Creative Writing club is open to students in all years and has been successful over the years, getting several pieces published!
How can parents help?
Encourage students to read as much as possible, as we know that reading helps all aspects of learning. Whether it is a real book or an online article, the benefits are still there, so your encouragement really helps. Perhaps you could put aside some time to read as a family or just try to engage with what your young person is reading by asking them about it.
Support with interventions. As part of our reading strategy, we run a range of interventions for any of our students who have difficulties in any aspect of their reading to help support them in closing gaps. If your child is selected for intervention, you will be informed and will be asked to support them by being positive with your child about it and following up at home, which helps to make interventions more purposeful.
Signing students up to extracurricular activities such as Debating, Creative Writing or Carnegie Shadowing book club is another way that you can help promote literacy with your child. The extracurricular clubs are a more relaxed way for students to improve their literacy skills while having fun and potentially making new friends too.