Literacy Policy

LITERACY POLICY

“Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. Literacy is the road to human progress and the means through
which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.”

Kofi Atta Annan

General Secretary, United Nations, 1997 - 2006

English International School

INSPIRE, EXCEL, EXCEED

1.1 School Mission

The English International School offers the best of British education by providing high quality,
innovative teaching to an intercultural community. EIS students experience a wide range of
opportunities and make excellent progress, whatever their starting points. EIS ensures that every
child feels safe, challenged and happy during their learning, preparing them to be confident
resilient global citizen

1.2 Rationale

‘Students are able to read, write and speak English fluently because literacy underpins
everything we do'.

Helping students to express themselves clearly, orally and in writing, enhances and enriches
teaching and learning in all subjects, whilst ensuring that students can access examination
materials. All teachers have a crucial role to play in supporting students’ literacy development.

2.0 Introduction

2.1 All teachers are teachers of literacy. As such the staff of EIS are committed to developing
literacy skills in all our students, in the belief that this will support their learning and raise

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standards across the curriculum, recognising their responsibilities as outlined in the revised
National Curriculum.

2.2 Effective delivery of literacy will broaden students’ knowledge and experience, increase
students’ abilities to learn for themselves, build self-esteem and promote the development of
good relationships.

2.3 At EIS we accept the fundamental principle that Literacy is the key to improving learning and
raising standards across the curriculum. Poor levels of literacy impact negatively on student
self-esteem and progress. All members of staff have responsibility for the delivery of literacy
across the curriculum.

2.4 Literacy involves the ability to read and write; however, it is also the capacity to recognise,
reproduce and manipulate the conventions of a range of texts. Literacy and English are
intertwined and they are an important aspect of our ability to communicate. There are also
new forms of literacy (on-screen literacy and moving image media) to consider alongside
the more traditional print literacy. Literacy is important because it enables students to gain
access to the subjects studied in school, to read for information and pleasure, and to
communicate effectively. Poor levels of literacy impact negatively on what students can do
and have a negative impact on students’ self-esteem.

3.0 Aims

3.1 The Aims of the Policy are to:

● Adopt a whole school approach to literacy across the curriculum.

● Enable students to reach and exceed their potential in reading, writing, speaking and
listening. Additional provision will be made for students who do not reach the minimum
age-related national expectations.

● Develop awareness that literacy is the key for all teaching and learning, with a clear
link to the cognitive demands of subjects and success in public examinations.

● Embed literacy across the whole school curriculum using a range of resources.

● Continue to raise levels of literacy to improve learning and raise standards across the whole
school.

● Provide a framework for teachers to monitor, evaluate and develop literacy provision.

4.0 Raising Standards of Literacy

4.1 The framework for literacy and learning identifies three main areas for development:

● Learning through talk

● Reading and Learning from text
● Learning through writing

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4.2 These main areas can be sub-categorised as:

4.2.1 Learning through talk/Speaking and Listening:

● Using talk to clarify and present ideas
● Active listening to understand
● Talking and thinking together

4.2.2 Reading and Learning from Text:

● Developing research and study skills
● Reading for meaning
● Understanding how texts work

4.2.3 Learning through Writing:

● Using writing as a tool for thought
● Structuring and organising writing
● Developing clear and appropriate expression

4.2.4 Learning through Talk/ Speaking and Listening

Talk is our main means of communication in everyday life and is fundamental to the
development of understanding. We want our students to develop increasing confidence and
competence in Speaking and Listening so that they are able to:

● Clarify and present their ideas and explain and develop their thinking
● Develop their ability to listen actively and respond sensitively and appropriately
● Adapt their speech to suit a wide range of circumstances, including paired and group
discussion and speaking to a larger audience
● Use varied and specialised vocabulary, including subject specific vocabulary
● Speak for a range of purposes, eg to narrate, to analyse, to explain, to reflect and evaluate
● Recall the main points of a presentation, reflecting on what has been heard to ask searching
questions, make comments or challenge the views expressed
● Identify and report the main points emerging from discussion
● Provide an explanation or commentary which links words with actions or images
● Use talk to question, hypothesise, speculate, evaluate, solve problems and develop thinking
about complex issues and ideas
● Use standard English to explain, explore or justify ideas
● Identify the underlying themes, implications and issues raised by a talk, reading or
programme
● Discuss and evaluate conflicting evidence to arrive at a considered personal viewpoint.
● In order to achieve this, our teaching plans will include specific reference to purposeful pupil
Speaking and Listening. This involves, as appropriate:

- Developing materials for PSHE/tutor time sessions which will provide pupils with
opportunities to engage in purposeful talk, in both formal and informal situations
- Structuring tasks in lessons so that students know the purpose for their listening,
providing note-taking frames as appropriate
- Planning carefully the size and organisation of groups, matching these to the purpose
of the activity, ability of the pupils and the desired learning outcomes
- Model effective examples of successful speaking and listening for pupils
- Evaluate speaking and listening activities through Assessment for Learning
- Give students the opportunity to deliver formal Speaking and Listening presentations,
in all subjects and, when appropriate, use these presentations as part of the formal
assessment process

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- The role of the teacher is to raise students’ awareness of the strategies and skills
involved when developing their Speaking and Listening skills.

5.0 Reading and Learning from Texts

5.1 We want our students to enjoy reading; to be able to use their reading to help them to learn and
to develop increasing confidence and competence in reading so that they are able to:

● Read fluently, accurately and with understanding

● Become independent and critical readers who make informed and appropriate choices
● Select information from a wide range of texts and sources including print, media and ICT
and to evaluate those sources
● Apply techniques such as skimming, scanning and text-marking effectively in order to
research and appraise texts

5.2 We use available data on students’ reading abilities in order to make informed choices about
appropriate texts and to plan appropriate support for students in order that they may successfully
access texts. Reading assessments are an integral part of the English assessment process. Our
Literacy support teaching assistant (SW) also assesses students when necessary. The
assessments (GL – Progress test in English) are then distributed to staff so that staff can use this
information to determine appropriate texts for the reading age range of a particular class.

5.3 In both Primary and Secondary 3 tutor times a week are allocated to reading and students are
encouraged to source books in the library. Some English lessons are also held in the library to
encourage reading and a love of books.

6.0 Resources

6.1 EIS is committed to providing:

● Interactive displays of reading material relevant to the topic or National Curriculum subject.
Each classroom displays subject specific vocabulary which students are encouraged to use
regularly
● Available high quality reading material, which is up to date, relevant and balanced in its
presentation of ethnicity, culture and gender. Students have access to the Library, a good
quality range of texts during lessons. The Library is also open for students’ use on a daily
basis.
● Dictionaries, glossaries and lists of appropriate subject vocabulary are readily available
during lessons, which students are encouraged to use
● Access to appropriate audio-visual equipment
● A classroom environment which is conducive to good literacy practice

6.2 The Lesson Plans within the School include explicit reference to the skills or strategies to be
used, taught or reinforced. Our plans include, as appropriate:

● Making clear the intended purposes of reading within our curriculum, eg describe, repeat,
interpret or analyse texts read
● Teaching, and giving opportunities to practise skimming for overall meaning, scanning for
key points, words or phrases, or close reading
● Teaching, and giving opportunities to practise sifting and selecting information and taking
notes from texts
● Teaching, and enabling students to infer and deduce meanings, recognising the writer’s
intentions;

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● Teaching and giving opportunities to research and investigate from printed words, moving
images and ICT texts
● Teaching how to use quotations selectively to support points and link them to students’ own
comments

7.0 Practical Application: Learning Through Reading

7.1 In order to foster a positive reading culture, the School will provide Key Stage 1 -4 students
with allocated reading time 4 days per week. These sessions take place in tutor time (Secondary
and during English lessons) and during the school day in Primary. These sessions are used to
encourage reading for pleasure, staff will model reading themselves.

7.2 Year 12 students participate in an Academic Literacy Programme for the duration of the
academic year. This course bridges the gap in expectations between iGCSE and A level, whilst
also ensuring that students are developing skills requisite for success at university. Academic
Literacy is a key component in student success and the programme focuses on developing
reading, writing and oracy within a framework of skills-based activities; the bespoke Academic
Literacy Programme also develops students’ awareness of current affairs, other cultures and
academic advancements in students’ fields of academic interest.

7.3 In Primary, all students have a group/guided reading session with their teacher at least twice a
week. Students will read a range of fiction and non-fiction books including ones from the
Oxford Reading Tree, Guided reading range, Oxford Bookworms, Collins Collection or from
the library.

7.4 In both Primary and Secondary students undertake a PTE (Progress Through English)
assessment of spelling, grammar, punctuation and comprehension of retrieval and inference.
These results are analysed and reported to SLT and Orbital as well as teachers and teaching
assistants and the Literacy teaching assistant.

8.0 Practical Application: Learning Through Writing

8.1 Many lessons include and depend on written communication. We want our students to develop
increasing confidence and competence in writing so that they are able to:

● Write in a widening variety of forms for different purposes, eg to interpret, evaluate, explain,
analyse and explore
● Develop ideas and communicate meaning to a reader using wide-ranging and technical
vocabulary and effective style, organising and structuring sentences grammatically and
whole texts coherently
● Present their writing clearly using accurate punctuation, correct spelling and legible
handwriting
● Apply word-processing conventions and understand the principles of authoring multi-media
text

8.2 The School’s Schemes of Work and assessment practices make clear:

● The purpose and intended audience for each piece of writing

● How pre-structured writing (writing frames) is used and gradually withdrawn as appropriate
● The vocabulary related to specialist subjects and the use of helpful spelling strategies
● The relevant ways of paragraphing writing and linking paragraphs
● How students are helped to develop the ability to synthesise information from different
sources

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8.3 In Primary, although writing is taught within the English lessons, the skills that the students
learn are used in other curriculum subjects as much as possible. Cross-curricular links are
made between subjects so that non-fiction writing will always be related to the work in wider
curriculum subjects. Whenever possible, fiction work should also be made more meaningful
through cross-curricular links. Assessed writing is levelled by the teacher using Ros Wilson’s
Criterion Scale. NC levels are used due to similarity with updated 2014 curriculum version
and also it enables tracking of student progress and the introduction of interventions where
necessary.

9.0 Assessment and Monitoring

9.1 EIS has a Whole School Marking Policy which identifies the key aspects of Literacy that each
department addresses in their marking of pupils’ work.

10.0 Training

10.1 EIS provides training for all members of staff so that they are able to comply with this policy
document. This will apply to new members of staff as well as those established at the time of
adoption of this Policy. The Primary Literacy Coordinator and Secondary English Teachers also
work periodically with different teachers and Teams to develop specific aspects of literacy.

11.0 Roles and Responsibilities:

11.1 Key Staff

Head of EAL (SW/West) Tom Stowell Smith

Head of Primary (SW) Lee Daglish
Head of Secondary (SW) Ervine Scholtz
Primary Literacy Coordinator (SW/West) Phil Stewart

11.2 The Primary Literacy Coordinator and Teachers of English [Secondary] will:

● Develop strategies and resources as required providing CPD opportunities where required
or requested
● Ensure Literacy strategies are fully implemented across their respective areas, supporting
other middle leaders in maximising opportunities for develop students’ literacy
● Coordinate literacy events including, but not limited to: World Book Day, International
Literacy Day, Competitions and No Pens Day.

11.3 Senior Leadership Team will:

● Lead and give a high profile to Literacy through the Line Management
● Ensure literacy strategies are fully implemented in their Line Management Areas

11.4 The School will:

● Identify students who have low levels of literacy.

● Provide intervention strategies to support in developing students’ literacy

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● Provide opportunities for CPD on literacy issues to support the whole school literacy
strategy
● Monitor implementation of the Literacy Policy

11.5 Key Stages [Primary] Subject Areas [Secondary] will:

● Review schemes of work to include explicit Literacy foci

● Develop and display key spellings and terminology in classrooms
● Develop and use writing frameworks pertinent to their subject
● Use the Literacy marking symbols when assessing students’ written work and implement
the Spelling and Punctuation Policies
● Develop a dictionary/thesaurus station in their area where appropriate
● Develop and use strategies to support students in improving writing, speaking, listening and
reading skills

11.6 Teachers will:

● Develop and use approaches which are relevant to their curriculum areas and students of all
attainment levels
● Communicate differentiated success criteria and learning objectives to students explicitly,
using speaking and listening, reading and writing skills.
● Continue to develop and use a variety of activities that promote interactive learning using
literacy skills
● Monitor student progress, using formative and oral assessment. This should inform
strategies that can support students in their learning and provide them with support and
feedback to make progress in line with and above national expectations
● Support students in developing literacy skills through displaying in each classroom.
Teachers will also provide a framework for students to check their written work.

11.7 Library:

● Contribute to students’ reading development by supporting staff and students with resources
for individual projects and providing reading enrichment opportunities
● Maintain a well-stocked, diverse range of fiction and non-fiction texts to facilitate students’
learning and literacy development at all Key Stages

11.8 Monitoring and Evaluation

● Key Stages [Primary] and Subject Areas [Secondary] will be supported in reflecting upon,
and then evaluating, Literacy Practice in their areas. Middle Leaders will periodically create
Literacy Action Plans to support them and their teams in focusing on key areas of Literacy
Practice that should be developed
● All staff will ensure that Literacy-based Interventions are implemented when
underperformance is identified; interventions will be fully evaluated after each period of
intervention to ascertain progress made
● Lesson observations, Learning Walks and Book Scrutinies will be used to assess the
implementation of the school’s Literacy Policy.

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Appendix 1: Spelling Policy

The following strategies are to be followed when correcting and teaching spelling:

● Don’t insert or cross out letters which are misplaced e.g. peple, tawk. Best practice is to use a
range of symbols that help students to understand what they have got wrong, ie, spelling,
punctuation grammar, and to allow them to correct their own work during D.I.R.T .

● When marking work, concentrate on a maximum of three error types, as given above.

● Use key words to concentrate on mastering basic vocabulary for each topic. These could be
reinforced as a homework but need to be checked quickly to ensure they are learned.

Appendix 2: Punctuation Policy

These basics must be taught by all teachers to all students:

● Capital letters at the start of sentences and for proper nouns i.e. names, places, festivals, days
of the week etc

● Sentences should end with appropriate punctuation; usually a full stop but question marks
and exclamation marks must also be used as appropriate

● The use of commas in lists

● The correct use of apostrophes for omission e.g. I’ll, don’t.

● The correct use of apostrophes for possession e.g. the boy’s book.

● Simple paragraphing to indicate a change of time, place, topic or person [TiPToP]

It should be made clear to students where your marking has a specific punctuation focus. All
marking and feedback should reflect this.

This policy was prepared by Mel Hitchcocks, Head of School, EIS Moscow SW for use across both
EIS campuses.
Date: 2nd July 2021.

To be reviewed: June 2023, or when necessary.

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