Connell Sixth Form College
Numeracy and Literacy Policy
Rationale
Connell Sixth Form College is committed to creating a learning environment where all staff
members are stakeholders in raising the standards of Literacy and Numeracy. They will enable
students to develop the necessary skills to move confidently through their education and beyond.
This policy is supplemented by departmental plans and delivery relating to the Numeracy and
Literacy needs of students within specific subjects.
Aims
Connell Sixth Form College will ensure that:
 all teachers know how to develop, maintain and improve standards in Numeracy and
Literacy across the College and that this is approached in a consistent manner;
 support for students’ learning in all subjects is enabling teachers being clear about the
ways in which their work with students contributes to the development of students’
Numeracy and Literacy skills, so that no opportunities for the development of these are
missed;
 teachers understand how they can support individual students to overcome any
difficulties that they might have in acquiring skills of Numeracy and Literacy;
 a culture of shared practice and effective CPD enables staff to develop their understanding
of how they can support the teaching of Numeracy and Literacy within their curriculum
area.
POLICY
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
Implementation
The Literacy and Numeracy Coordinators, will work together with the Leadership Team to
ensure that the policy is implemented across the College. They will also ensure that the
impact of the policy initiatives are monitored, making modifications where necessary.
All students will take part in screening using the Quickscan software, supplemented where
necessary by level 2 Numeracy and/or Literacy tests.
Students will plan and record their development priorities in their Individual Learning
Plans (ILPs).
Students who have not already achieved a grade C or better in GCSE Mathematics or
English will take a course resulting in this qualification, or an appropriate stepping stone
towards it.
All students, whether or not they have GCSE qualifications in Maths and English on entry,
will develop their Numeracy and Literacy skills. Staff in all subjects will provide a range of
opportunities to develop students’ skills of Numeracy and Literacy, both inside and outside
of the classroom. Opportunities will be signposted in subject documentation, e.g. schemes
of work.
LT and HoDs will ensure that the teaching of Numeracy and Literacy are monitored
through, for example, lesson observations, work scrutiny and walks-throughs.
LT will ensure that all teachers engage in CPD which supports and develops them as
teachers of Numeracy and Literacy.
The Maths Department will pilot the Core Maths qualification from September 2015.
2.
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.5
2.6
3
3.1
3.3
3.4
3.5
4.
4.1
4.2
5
5.1
5.2
Developing Reading across the Curriculum
We aim to give students a level of literacy that will enable them to cope with the
increasing demands of their subjects in terms of specific skills, knowledge and
understanding.
Across the whole curriculum, teachers will provide activities for students to acquire
knowledge and deepen understanding through reading.
The Literacy coordinator will provide all teaching staff with a range of strategies that
should be consistently applied in order to develop students’ skills of reading.
Teachers will provide reading material of high quality which is appropriate for the ability of
the students. They should be conscious of the need to both challenge students and also to
meet all students’ individual needs.
Students should be encouraged to read out loud.
The development of opportunities for reading for pleasure should be promoted
throughout all areas of the curriculum and students must be encouraged to use existing
resources to develop this, for example the College library.
Developing Writing across the Curriculum
We aim to provide a consistent approach to writing to reinforce students’ language skills.
Across the curriculum, there will be opportunities to develop different types of writing. A
cohesive approach will be encouraged by teachers using a variety of writing frameworks,
in order to support students when writing for different purposes and audiences.
Across all curriculum areas, students will have the opportunity to:
 plan, draft, discuss and reflect on their writing.
 make notes in a variety of formats.
 record on their ILPs where literacy is addressed in their subjects
Teachers will set writing tasks that have a clear purpose, are objective driven and are also
appropriate for the ability of the students. They should be conscious of the need to both
challenge students, but also of the need to develop all students.
The use of dictionaries will be encouraged. Each curriculum area will teach subject specific
vocabulary and spelling, as appropriate.
Developing Communication across the Curriculum
Students should be able to listen to others and to respond and build on their ideas and
views constructively. They should develop the confidence to speak in front of a group of
their peers or adults.
Teachers will develop strategies to teach students how to participate orally in groups and
in the whole class, including: using talk to develop and clarify ideas; identifying the main
points to arise from a discussion; listening for a specific purpose; discussion and
evaluation.
CPD will continue to be offered to all teachers on the promotion of communication skills.
Developing Mathematics across the Curriculum
It is important that we provide for the development of mathematical skills which go
beyond basic arithmetic. They involve developing confidence and competence with
numbers and measures, include an ability to problem solve in a range of contexts, and
include an understanding of how data is gathered and represented.
Across the curriculum, there will be different opportunities to develop students’
mathematical skills and opportunities must not be missed, but approached in a consistent
manner.
The Numeracy coordinator will promote a coherent approach to the development of
mathematical skills and will have an overall understanding of where specific mathematical
skills are being taught or applied in all subjects.
5.3
5.4
6
6.
Across all curriculum areas, teachers should ensure that they are familiar with correct
mathematical language, notation, conventions and techniques that relate to their own
curriculum areas and encourage students to use these correctly. Students will be
encouraged to develop Mathematical vocabulary across all subject areas.
Teachers will have appropriate CPD opportunities which will ensure they have an
understanding of how Numeracy can be developed in their subject area.
Promoting and Evaluating the Policy
This will be achieved and supported by:
 formal and informal monitoring systems and sharing of good practice which are already
in place through areas such as walk-throughs, lesson observations; work scrutiny, and
student voice.