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Literacy and Numeracy

At E-ACT Ousedale, our vision is that all young people leave our school ready to succeed in life.  As effective learners they will acquire the character, experiences, knowledge, skills and qualifications which will enable them to thrive, and lead successful, happy lives.  We recognise that literacy – the ability to read, write and communicate effectively - and numeracy – the ability to understand and work with numbers - are essential foundations of effective learning and so we champion these in our curriculum. We are also aware of some of the challenges our pupils face in developing their literacy skills post pandemic and have adapted our curriculum accordingly.

NGRT (New Group Reading Test)

Having accurate data regarding all our young peoples reading levels is crucial in enabling us to provide appropriate support. From September 2024 all pupils in Year 7 will sit an NGRT test within their first few weeks at the school which is then repeated at the end of the academic year to measure progress. Pupils in Years 8-10 also sit this test in January of each academic year ensuring we have a full picture of your child’s reading development during their time with us.

NGRT is a standardised assessment that reliably compares a pupil’s reading skills against the national average to help us get a clear measure of your child’s sentence completion and comprehension skills. The data from this test is then utilised to inform a range of support packages including:

  • Phonics support for students who are not yet reading at age related expectation and need assistance with blending sounds together using the Fresh Start programme (Wave 3).
  • Comprehension support for students who need assistance with understanding what they have read using the Toe by Toe programme (Wave 3)
  • Additional in class strategies for students who are not yet confident readers. NGRT information is shared with all class teachers so that they can adapt their resources and lessons appropriately. (Wave 2)

Literacy

A particular literacy focus, at the moment, is on developing pupils’ vocabulary as this underpins their ability to read and communicate successfully.  In all lessons, pupils focus on acquiring and using the key subject specific terms that enable learners to access and demonstrate their understanding of the different subjects they study. Additionally, pupils in Years 7 and 8 and all pupils with additional literacy needs, are supported in developing a broader and more sophisticated vocabulary that will help them to access the curriculum through their regular work on the Bedrock Learning programme.

Bedrock Learning is a programme designed to teach students a range of new vocabulary through a variety of non-fiction lessons and tasks. Through learning and acquiring new words, students will be able to unlock a wider range of texts. Not only will this help to improve their achievements in KS3 and at GCSE, but help them throughout life as they continue to grow. Pupils will undertake Bedrock in school during tutor times across the year and also at home on a weekly basis which is then monitored and celebrated by their English teacher.

Developing reading skills is another key focus and we achieve this in a number of ways.  Reading is a key focus of our transition programme and all year 6 pupils read and share their response to a core text as part of their induction. Additionally, all pupils in key stages 3 and 4 read together weekly with their form tutor as part of the Reading Spine initiative and a range of competitions are used to encourage pupils to read independently.

We have a close focus on reading in years 7 and 8, recognising the challenges that the secondary curriculum can bring for weaker readers, in particular. In addition, English teachers use the detailed information provided about learners’ strengths and areas for development as readers to inform the planning of their reading lessons. Through the English curriculum, all year 7 and 8 pupils also engage in the Accelerated Reader programme, which helps them to choose appropriately challenging books to read and motivates and rewards regular reading through quizzing.

School Library

Both campuses have inviting libraries which stock a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books. Pupils are encouraged to spend time in the library and all students have a library induction at the start of Year 7. NGRT test provide each student with a ZPD range, which enables them to successfully select books which will not only be of interest but will also challenge their reading skills.

Teaching staff work closely with the librarians to ensure that there are a range of books on offer which will provide additional reading opportunities for our pupils based on the topics covered in class. Additional reading around the content covered in class provides a depth of understanding that supports academic success.

Parent/Carer support for reading

There are lots of things that parents/carers can do at home to support their children in developing their vocabulary and reading skills:

Vocabulary 

Reading
  • Sit beside your child as they are completing their Bedrock Learning and help them to engage. 
  • Log on to your Bedrock Account and see what words your child is learning – use them and encourage your child to use them. 
  • Talk to you child about the new vocabulary they are learning. 
  • Encourage them and praise them when they use sophisticated and interesting vocabulary. 
  • Use a word of the day app and challenge each other to use the word as often as possible. 
  • Draw attention to new words you encounter and try to work out what they mean. 
  • Discuss current events – sport, celebrities, local and world issues 
  • Play word association games 
  • Listen to your child reading their accelerated reading book at home and talk to them about the book. 
  • Encourage regular reading at home – fiction, non-fiction, books, magazines etc 
  • Model reading yourself 
  • Download audio books for car journeys or to listen to at home. 
  • Encourage book swaps amongst friends 
  • Take your child to a library or book shop and encourage them to choose a new book. 
  • Ask your child to read aloud to you and or to talk to you about the book they are reading 

Numeracy

At Ousedale School, we aim to equip students with the ability to cope confidently with the mathematical demands of further education, employment and adult life.

The skills that they need to achieve this are:

  • Representing – selecting the mathematics and information required to solve a problem
  • Analysing – processing and using mathematics
  • Interpreting and communicating the results of the analysis

Across the curriculum, students should be able to:

  • apply their knowledge of number to both familiar and new circumstances and to use it in the solution of problems.
  • carry out basic calculations efficiently and accurately, either mentally or with pencil and paper as appropriate.
  • understand and use units of measurement of length, mass, capacity and time.
  • understand and use information presented in mathematical forms, including graphs, tables and charts.

In school we are developing common approaches for teaching these skills across the curriculum.

All staff are aware of opportunities for incorporating numeracy into their lessons, in order to build and consolidate the skills used in Maths lessons.

Weekly numeracy challenges are used by form tutors in registration to develop problem solving and to allow students to apply their numeracy knowledge to different contexts.

In tutor time, Key Stage 3 students complete work on the  ‘Numeracy ninjas’ programme once a week practising mental strategies for calculations, times tables and key skills and so developing fluency with mental and written calculations. Students in Year 7 and 8 complete a functional skills numeracy unit; this focuses on transferable skills such as reading scales, estimating calculations, dealing with money and reading graphs and charts.

Key stage 4 students have a numeracy session once a week in tutor time. This encourages students to recap the knowledge and skills covered in their Maths lessons. Maths puzzles and games are also used to increase fluency and confidence when dealing with numbers.

At home, parents can help develop skills in the following areas:

Time: Use analogue and digital watches or clocks to tell the time, work out how long something will take or when it will finish, read timetables and calculate the number of days until an event.

Measure: Use scales in preparing meals, adjust recipes for different numbers of people, measuring lengths of rooms, furniture.

Money: Work out best buys when shopping, calculate reductions in sales, calculate and check change in shops, budget and record income and expenditure.

Estimating: Plan for activities such as calculating the number of rolls of paper or amount of paint required to decorate a room.

Calculating: Practise multiplication tables, complete the brain gym puzzles in newspapers, play countdown numbers games.

The following websites have more activities and ideas to support numeracy at home:

www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/maths

https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/family-maths-toolkit

http://sport.maths.org/content/KS3

www.mymaths.co.uk(Your son/daughter will be given the username and password for this website in their maths lessons)