Developing the Power of Reading
A guide for Literacy
Link Governors
National Literacy Trust 2014
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Key Areas to explore
• The role of the Literacy Link Governor
• Developing a whole school philosophy—
where to start
• Knowing your school
• Our school in the wider context—national
priorities, research and accountability
• Support and development
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The Role of the Literacy Link
Governor
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Governor strategic functions
• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic
direction.
• Holding the headteacher to account for the
educational performance of the school and its
pupils.
• Overseeing the financial performance of the
school and making sure its money is well
spent.
•
The School Governance (Role, Procedures and Allowances) (England) Regulations
2013.
•
These functions are also reflected in the criteria Ofsted inspectors use to judge the effectiveness of
governance in both maintained schools and academies
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Governor strategic functions
• “Leadership focused on improving teaching and
learning is what matters most. We need more of it,
from headteachers and governors ...”
• “... your main focus should be on the quality of
teaching in the school, the leadership of teaching
and learning, the progress and outcomes for
pupils and the performance management of staff,
including the headteacher.”
Strong governance: learning from the best
Sir Michael Wilshaw Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Ofsted
National Governors’ Association Conference Speech 2012
•
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The role of the Literacy Link Governor:
reading
• To support the development of a whole school philosophy and
strategic policy towards reading.
“Although schools especially primary schools, devoted a
considerable amount of time to reading, few had a coherent and
consistently articulated policy.”
Reading ,writing and communication. Ofsted Guidance,
October 2011
• To provide accountability and be a critical friend – reviewing pupil
progress & outcomes (class, school, national), raising
achievement and overcoming barriers (gender gaps/SEND/
vulnerable groups).
• To monitor and support the development of quality teaching and
learning in reading.
• To support effective consistency and communication of ethos and
approach to all stakeholders.
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1. Whole School Philosophy
• Supporting the development of a whole school
philosophy and strategic policy towards reading.
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7
• “To learn to read is to light a fire; every
syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”
Victor Hugo
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Key Questions
What do we believe reading is?
What is reading to our children?
What is important for us?
How do we teach reading?
How do the children perceive the teaching of reading?
How do we build a community of readers?
Is the school well equipped to
fulfil our shared philosophy?
How do we communicate
our vision of reading
across all stakeholders?
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What is reading to our school?
“Reading is much more than
the decoding of black marks
upon a page; it is a quest for
meaning and one which
requires the reader to be an
active participant.”
Brian Cox 1991
Reading is about making sense and the drive to make sense is
what powers young children’s learning. Alison Kelly
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The Key Building Blocks
Word recognition
skills
+
Language
comprehension
Underpinning everything...reading for pleasure
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Unpicking reading in our school
Areas to explore:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Word recognition skills
Phonics, word recognition strategies
Language comprehension
Linguistic skills: vocabulary development, grammatical
skills, ability to talk about how language works
Cognitive Skills: knowledge, engagement and response
to texts, reading comprehension strategies, inference
and interpretation
Study Skills
Skimming and scanning, note taking, reading stamina
Whole school culture of reading for pleasure
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The Importance of Reading for Pleasure
Figure 10: Model of influence, with bolder paths indicating stronger relationships
© National Literacy Trust: Children’s and Young People’s Reading Today 2012
Findings from the 2011 National Literacy Trust’s annual survey
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The critical friend - questions to
ask:
• Do we as a school have a clearly articulated policy
which incorporates and addresses all the key
elements of the reading process?
• Are each of these key elements assessed and
monitored effectively across our school?
• Is our school workforce suitably equipped to fulfill our
policy in terms of leadership, knowledge, skill and
resourcing?
• Is our policy a true reflection of our whole school
philosophy and are all stakeholders informed and
committed to this ethos?
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