Leo
Literacy Policy
Aims and objectives
All our aims at the ‘Leo Cluster’ (Lawdale, Elizabeth Selby and Oaklands School) reflect our ethos and
our approach to teaching and learning with Literacy. They identify the aspect of our school community
that we value highly and seek to promote to our children.
Our aims are for children to:

Develop a lifelong love of learning

Celebrate their achievements and embrace new challenges

To improve the speaking, reading and writing of children who are learning English as an
additional language.

Be independent, self confident and motivated learners

Value themselves and others in the whole community

Be healthy and stay safe

82% of children in Year 6 with EAL, with a full UK education will reach level 4 in spoken
English.

Understand their responsibility for themselves and their friends

To make transition for pupils fun and exciting through literacy in Reception, Years 2 – 3 and
Years 6-7.
Aims for the Community to:

Help raise educational achievement in the cluster by working with parent/carers to improve
children attainment and life chances

Develop partnership in the community that will expand services to meet their particular
providers

Promote community cohesion by building links with the wider community and use English in
all school contexts.
Literacy
Literacy unites the important skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. At our ‘Cluster’ school
we encourage children to speak, listen, read and write for a range of purposes, using language to learn
and communicate ideas views and feelings. It enables children to express themselves creatively and
imaginatively, as they become enthusiastic and critical readers of stories, poetry and drama, as well as
non-fiction and media texts. Children gain an understanding of how language works by looking at its
patterns, structures and origins.
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Children use their knowledge, skills and understanding in speaking and writing across a range of
different situations. We believe that through literacy children can begin to express themselves
creatively, imaginatively and factually.
Our aims for our teaching and learning within Literacy are to enable children to:

Foster an enthusiasm and love of reading and writing.

Provide a rich and stimulating language environment, where speaking and listening, reading
and writing are integrated.

Provide opportunities for pupils to become confident, competent and expressive users of the
language with a developing knowledge of how it works.

Provide opportunities for pupils to be reflective users of language, able to analyse and evaluate
features of language.

Develop an awareness of purpose and audience for both written and oral language.

Provide an environment where pupils are encouraged to construct and convey meaning, both in
speech and writing, of factual, imaginary and personal experiences.

Develop the fundamental skills of language as a means of communication, thus giving access to
the rest of the curriculum and providing a vital key for future learning.

Become confident users of language.
Speaking and Listening
It is important to provide planned opportunities for a range of speaking and listening tasks. This
encourages children to develop as fluent, confident and competent speakers who are also able to listen
with interest and understanding for sustained periods. It also encourages children to work
cooperatively with others and to listen to the views of others. Working collaboratively and sharing
ideas is a valuable and supportive exercise which needs to be planned and developed within the
classroom.
Our aims for teaching and learning within speaking and listening are to enable children to:

Use speech appropriately for different purposes.

Adopt appropriate vocabulary, tone, pace and style for a variety of audiences and in a variety of
different situations.

Understand the effect of speech on the listener.

Use talk to develop and express ideas.

Communicate meaning effectively.

Listen attentively and derive meaning form what others say.

Follow verbal instructions accurately.

Understand the importance of good listening and how to respond during discussions
conversations and when information is given or asked for.

Develop the skills of turn taking, negotiation and reaching consensus.

Appreciate the role of a ‘talk partner’ and the way in which others can help in the learning
process by sharing ideas and being supportive.
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Reading
Pupils are encouraged to become confident, enthusiastic, critical and independent readers. They
should be able to cope with print in a variety of forms and for a variety of purposes and read for
enjoyment, information, and interest.
Our aims for teaching and learning within reading are to enable children to:

Understand the features of a book and how it works.

Have an interest in words and their meanings.

Use a range of strategies which will help them to read with meaning, fluency, accuracy and
expression.

Use appropriate reading strategies to find and interpret information.

Reflect on their reading and offer a personal response to a wide range of texts.

To understand how the format and language changes with different genre.

To use inferential skills to find meaning beyond the literal.

To appreciate the tools of the writer and the techniques used to involve the reader in the text
and to build these strategies into their own writing.

To appreciate the work of individual authors, illustrators and publishers.

To read for and with other children and adults in a variety of situations.

To use a range of resources, including classroom materials, the school and public libraries for a
range of reading materials.

To use ICT based reference materials for information.
Writing
It is important for pupils to develop as independent, enthusiastic and expressive writers, who are able
to write in a meaningful way. They should be able to use a range of forms for a variety of purposes and
audiences. They should be confident in their choice of genre and language style for a specific purpose.
Pupils should also regard themselves as writers and value their own work and that of others.
Our aims for teaching and learning within writing are to enable children to:

Use writing as a means to communicate ideas and information to a reader.

Write in a grammatically accurate way.

Develop an increasingly wide vocabulary suited to the purpose and genre.

Write in a particular genre with a good understanding of the features of that genre.

Understand the conventions of written language.

Use teacher modeling as a means to understand the writing process.

Understand how writers can have an effect on the reader.

Incorporate ideas and skills of other authors into their own writing.

Collaborate with others during the writing process.

Draft and re-draft, making changes where appropriate.

Work collaboratively with other children to discuss their written work.

Use ICT as a tool for writing.
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
Use spelling and punctuation accurately and with confidence.
Drama
Pupils should be encouraged to use a range of dramatic forms to express feelings and ideas both
verbally and non-verbally. Pupils should be encouraged to appreciate drama, both as participants and
observers. ( I’d put this with the speaking and listening section)
Organisation, Planning and Evaluation

At key points of transition the ‘Leo cluster’ will work towards literacy weeks in years Reception,
Years 2 – 3 and Years 6-7.

School Development plans make sure differentiation is sustainable.

The ‘Leo Cluster’ will work towards National Strategies and action plans for medium and long
term planning.

Literacy Weeks culminate in activities across the cluster at Key transition points.

Teachers will have more ownership of what works and why by sharing ideas and good practice.

Cluster staff meetings will be facilitated by revolving coordinators in each cluster school to
encourage joined up thinking within the cluster of schools.

Evaluations will look at pupil progress, book looks, displays, pupil trackers.

Particular emphasis will be on gifted and talented pupils and under achieving boys.

Ext school manager to plan and develop Literacy classes for the community to reinforce
learning at home.
Teaching and learning style

We use a variety of teaching and learning styles in our literacy lessons, as recommended by the
National Literacy Strategy and Framework in each school.

Intervention will be different at various National Strategies.
Projects and Resources

There are a range of resources to support the teaching of literacy across ‘Leo Cluster’.

Drama projects such as ‘who done it’ would be developed across the three schools to develop
literacy in the same way such as predicting, investigation, instructive language, and would
have a summative language.
Monitoring and Review
The literacy curriculum is monitored by the literacy coordinators for the LEO Cluster with all three
schools feeding into the process to monitor success of transition.
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