Schools unite to improve pupil literacy
A GROUP of schools in Milford Haven have worked together to improve literacy standards, a report from the ERW consortium of local authorities shows.
Milford Haven School, Coastlands CP School, St Francis Catholic School and Hakin Community School invested in appointing a non-teaching literacy and numeracy co-ordinator, trained teachers to have a consistent approach and got secondary and primary pupils reading together.
Milford Haven School headteacher Rod Francis said the literacy and numeracy co-ordinator was appointed to ensure full implementation of the national Literacy and Numeracy Framework (LNF) in his school and its feeder primaries.
A training programme for teachers was also developed to ensure consistent approach to teaching literacy and numeracy in the cluster schools.
LNF co-ordinator Kate Andrews said: “The coaching programme with individual teachers has increased confidence in planning and delivering effective strategies to consolidate skills across the curriculum.”
Following the training, small reading groups were created in Milford Haven School. Pupils were taught key skills of reciprocal reading, predicting, clarifying, questioning and summarising.
The pupils developed confidence in their reading as well as becoming more actively involved in discussing it, according to a report to ERW, an alliance of Carmarthenshire Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire, Powys and Swansea local education authorities.
Milford Haven School set up reading sessions with some of the primary schools in the cluster, with older pupils leading the reading. Over a six-month period, the older pupils travelled to Coastlands CP School and Hakin Community School once a fortnight to read with younger children.
The older pupils developed confidence in their own reading and oracy skills through working with the younger children, who in turn saw the older children as role models for good reading behaviours.
Mr Francis said: “We place great value on reading in school, so we are extremely proud of the achievements that our pupils have made in improving their reading as well as supporting the younger children in our cluster.”
The project has also made the move from primary to secondary easier for pupils by starting the transition earlier, the report adds.
“The cluster work together to achieve the recommendation identified in the Donaldson report, that the period of statutory schooling be seen as a ‘coherent and progressive whole, including the move between the primary and secondary sectors’.”