Literacy

School Based Literacy Strategy

At Heritage High School we take Literacy seriously and believe that reading, writing, and speaking are the key to student’s progress across the curriculum.

Across the school we support students with their reading as a priority and do this through:

• We have a library with over 23,000 books to choose from, this includes 10 books for each year group on our recommended Two Counties Reading list. This encourages students to read books outside of their usual genre and the books address an array of social, moral and world issues. These can be found using the link below

Year 7 to Year 11 Reading List

• Quality First Teaching in all our lessons, which enables all students to access good teaching of literacy throughout all subject disciplines. Teachers use explicit instruction to explain key vocabulary in the format students are familiar with through our Trust wide Word of the Week.
• During weekly form time sessions all our students get the opportunity to use a Word of the Week in a variety of contexts to widen their vocabulary.
• For those who require more support with their reading we have small group sessions where there is a focus on enjoyment of reading and bespoke intervention on key skills.

For year 7 and 8:

• All students are part of the Accelerated Reader program; this allows students to be tested on the books they have read for comprehension and understanding of the text. Through STAR testing they are then directed to a selection of books to choose from that will stretch and challenge their reading
• Everyone completes an NGRT reading test that gives students a reading age. This enables teachers to tailor lessons to support and stretch each reader.
• They take part in silent reading in one form time a week and are expected to carry their reading book with them daily. We encourage extra reading wherever possible and want our students to be able to take part in this whenever possible.
• In English lessons they have one reading lesson per week where staff support their work on Accelerated reader but also address key skills including grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

What can parents and carers do to help?

To benefit from reading it is recommended children read for between 15 and 30 minutes per day. This can be on any chosen topic, any form of text and most importantly something they enjoy.

If your child is in Year 7 or 8 please ensure they always have a reading book in their school bag.

To support communication of ideas and encourage your child to discuss their reading we suggest the ‘Talk with TRUST’ model from the Education Endowment Foundation below:

• Take turns to make plans and predictions before reading.
• Recap to check ideas and understanding as your child is reading.
• Use encouragement and praise to keep children engaged in reading.
• Share prior knowledge and past experiences that link to what is being read.
• Tune-in and listen to your child – be curious about their interests.

The most valuable thing that families can do is talk to their child about their Literacy in school. It is important to encourage children to read regularly for a minimum of 20 minutes every night.   

Reading  

Reading regularly is proven to develop imaginations, improve vocabulary, spelling, writing, and speaking skills. Reading frequently also helps to create empathy towards others, develop critical thinking skills, as well as increase confidence and improve mental health. Regular reading boosts the chances of gaining better grades in all subject areas across secondary school, which will result in improving career prospects in later life. Also, reading often can be fun and enjoyable.    

Having an established routine for reading can be helpful. For example: reading being completed and then children being rewarded with screen time. An alternative could be to ensure reading is done in bed before a child goes to sleep; this can help improve the quality of sleep and is much healthier than looking at a screen just before sleep. A bonding activity when reading could be to have your child read out loud to you. From this, you could ask them questions on what they have been reading to encourage them and check comprehension. A positive alternative to reading could be having a families, carers or sibling reading to a child or listening via audiobook. 

It is important that your child is reading a suitable book. In Year 7 and Year 8 the weekly Reading Lesson is an opportunity for pupils to get advice from our Librarian or their English teacher, as well as recommendations from peers. We expect all our KS3 pupils to always have a reading book in their bag. 

What to Read?

Our librarian is always available to guide reading choices from our extensive selection of books. 

Accelerated Reader

Writing 

Encourage your child to write for pleasure. There are lots of activities in the reading log which they can complete – diary entries, stories or letters are just some of the examples. Before writing, please encourage your child to plan their extended piece of writing.   

Teachers at Heritage High School encourage students to proof check their written work to check for basic Literacy errors like full stops, capital letters or spelling errors. If the work is read aloud, this helps to punctuate work, as it will help them to hear where the punctuation should go. You could even try reading this aloud to them with the correct pauses.   

Handwriting 

If handwriting is clear and legible then priority should be given to the speed of writing over neatness. Not getting enough down on the page within time limits can be a barrier to success for some of our students. 

Speaking

To develop speaking and presentation skills, you could ask your child to read some of their reading book or written work out loud to you. As they do so, you could encourage them to speak clearly and fluently, in Standard English, and to vary the intonation and pace of their speech. Using eye contact, gestures and open body language is also important.  

Literacy at GCSE

To maximise success at GCSE, encourage your child to keep reading fiction and non-fiction for pleasure.