LITERACY
Literacy incorporates the skills of Reading, Writing, Talking and Listening. It is delivered across the curriculum, through all subjects.
Reading:
- Read a range of texts for information, ideas and enjoyment
- Use a range of strategies to read with increasing independence
- Find, select and use information from a range of sources
- Understand and explore ideas, events and features in texts*
- Use evidence from texts to explain opinions
Writing:
- Talk about, plan and edit work.
- Communicate information, meaning, feelings, imaginings and ideas in a clear and organised way.
- Develop, express and present ideas in a variety of forms and formats, using traditional and digital resources, for different audiences and purposes.
- Write with increasing accuracy and proficiency.
Talking & Listening:
Listen to and take part in discussions, explanations, role-plays and presentations. Contribute comments, ask questions and respond to others’ points of view. Communicate information, ideas, opinions, feelings and imaginings, using an expanding vocabulary.
- Structure talk so that ideas can be understood by others
- Speak clearly and adapt ways of speaking to audience and situation
- Use non- verbal methods to express ideas and engage with the listener
Our pupils participate in a variety of creative writing and poetry competitions every year.
Accelerated Reading:
Loreto are proud to have launched Accelerated Reading in our library. The Accelerated Reading Programme commenced at the start of September 2015. The aim of the initiative is to raise literacy standards amongst our Year 8s, by motivating them to read more, suitably challenging, books. Using information generated by the AR software, we aim to help students select books that are difficult enough to keep them challenged, but not too difficult to cause frustration. The software provides an initial Reading Level, followed by data throughout the year, taken from interactive quizzes. The Literacy Co-ordinator has a team consisting of the school librarian, ICT technician, English teachers and Literacy Prefects, to the successful implementation of this programme to date. Year 8s have been tested to obtain a STAR reading level and therefore will enjoy reading books appropriate to their ‘optimal reading level zone’. Year 8s will partake in interactive quizzes to monitor their reading progress. The Accelerated Reading Programme has encouraged our Year 8 pupils to read extensively. Monthly prizes are now being awarded to a pupil from each class. An overall winner will also be chosen in June of each year.
Quick Guide to accessing Accelerated Reader
“In total our Year 8 have read 34,920,672 words this year! Congratulations ladies….we are so proud of you!”
(Ms Ryan )
Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity… For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right…. Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.”
― Kofi Annan
Key Stage 4:
KS4 Useful tips and hints for uplevelling
Support:
We aim to support students who are encountering difficulties in Literacy related areas. Current provisions include: Better Reading Partnership, Core Skills and 1:1 Literacy support. Throughout the year our Literacy Prefects host a variety of skill workshops including Creative Writing, Critical Thinking, Speaking and Listening and Spelling Bees.
Competitions:
Throughout the year, students at Loreto are offered the opportunity to participate in a variety of competitions within school as well as at local and national level.
Young Writers Competition
These talented young writers are going to be published in the Young Writers latest edition of ‘Twisted Tales- Secrets Revealed’. Their originality has been lauded by the adjudicators. We are so very proud of you!
Creative Writing Club
Our Literacy Prefects organised a highly successful Creative Writing Club, this year.
Pictured are some of our Winning Entries to the ‘A Winter’s Tale’ in-house competition: Jesmy, Molly, Hannah, Katie, Elsa and Ciara. ❄️⭐️🎄❄️
Harry Potter Book Night Event
Book Recomendations
Our Senior Literacy Prefect, Ella, is delighted to launch our series of book recommendations to promote the vibrant reading culture in our school. Year 8 students are participating in Accelerated Reader and are off to a great start. Remember to keep reading and get quizzing, Year 8!
