[vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1600243564609{margin-bottom: 50px !important;}”]Literacy is a key part of learning at Malet Lambert School and is a central part of every young person’s life.  The development of strong language and communication skills is essential to success at school and beyond.

In employment, people with functional literacy skills earn, on average, 16% more than those with lower literacy skills and are more likely to be in well-paid, professional jobs.

We are committed to improving literacy at our school and aim to nurture a love of reading and writing amongst our students.  It is well documented that interest in reading wanes significantly as pupils make the transition from primary to secondary school, especially amongst KS4 (Year 10 & 11).  In this case, we would like our pupils to buck the trend.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”810″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1600243617923{margin-bottom: 50px !important;}”]Did you know:

• KS4 pupils are three times more likely than KS2 pupils (primary age) to say they do not enjoy reading.
• 1 in 10 KS4 pupils say they NEVER read outside of class.
• 1 in 5 KS3 (Year 7, 8 & 9) & KS4 pupils have not read a book during the past month.
• 15% of pupils have never visited a bookshop.
• Over 55% of children prefer watching television to reading.

To improve their literacy, pupils need to progress in four main areas: speaking, listening, reading and writing. We have embedded literacy into all aspects of our curriculum to address these skills in every class we teach.  Regardless of their specialist subject, our teaching staff see themselves as teachers of literacy.

In addition to this, we have introduced the ‘Eat. Sleep. Read.’ programme (also called ‘Accelerated Reader’) across Years 7 & 8 to focus on developing pupils’ ability to read.  Pupils will take a short test to assess their reading abilities and will be encouraged to read a variety of books, both in class and outside of school, to improve their skills and progress their reading level.

As part of their involvement in ‘Eat. Sleep. Read.’, pupils will be asked to read at least three times per week at home, for 25 minutes per session, alongside reading time in registration and during English lessons.

Good literacy skills are essential to enable pupils to succeed in later life, and they provide the necessary tools for pupils to expand their thinking, increase their knowledge and effectively communicate with others.

Eat. Sleep. Write.

As part of a drive to improve literacy, we’ve introduced Eat Sleep Write – activities that focus on problem areas in literacy and help develop writing skills.

During the school year, pupils will be focusing on improving certain literacy skills in three week blocks across all lessons. So far, they have covered homophones, including ‘to, too, two’ and ‘where, wear’, and use of capital letters, looking at proper nouns and common nouns.

The aim is for pupils to take two tests on each subject – one to ascertain their current level of knowledge and one to improve on their previous score.  Those who achieve full marks on their first test will not need to take any further tests on that subject.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]