Richmond School
Policy | Policy List | Language For Learning Policy
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LANGUAGE FOR LEARNING POLICY AND GUIDANCE MATERIAL (...)
LANGUAGE FOR LEARNING: The Responsibilities of the Language for Learning (cross-curricular) Group
The policy’s aim for this group is to establish and promote a coherent and shared approach to students’ language development across the curriculum. Its membership includes one teacher from each department and a representative from the school support (admin) team.
Its purposes are to:
• report on and share good practice in language development from each subject area;
• take note of national and county documents which publicise good practice in language use across the curriculum;
• discuss and co-ordinate strategies which concentrate on a specific linguistic technique or promote the use of a particular approach to teaching a topic (eg the use of debate in discussion work);
• sample text-based materials used within a year group to assess their linguistic level and make comparisons between the language demands being made on students across the curriculum;
• collate the language for learning strands of departmental development plans in order to produce a composite account of the school’s language for learning improvement programme;
• produce an over-arching language for learning development plan, which takes account of the various departmental action plans, and presents a coherent and co-ordinated strategy for each academic year;
• produce common guidelines for teaching non-fiction language techniques: eg
• note taking at each key stage
• paragraphing at each key stage
• report to Heads of Subject and the Management Team in the second half of the summer term on the work of the group and its assessment of language for learning progress across the curriculum.
• keep the Governing Body’s Curriculum and Pastoral Committee informed of language for learning via a deputy head
• create ideas, opportunities and plans for language focused events; eg
• book weeks
• visiting speakers
• whole school debates
• produce whole school resources which are relevant to students in all or most subject areas; eg
• proof reading guides
• grammar check sheets (perhaps to be included in the student planner)
LANGUAGE FOR LEARNING: Departmental Responsibilities
Each department contributes to the language development of students by following these guidelines.
a) General
The importance of differentiation should be recognised in the department's scheme of work.
Development Plans should include at least one strand, addressing the issue of language for learning within the subject.
One member of the department should attend the Language for Learning Group and report back to the department about its meetings.
Schemes of work should be considered in terms of their language content and literacy demands whenever they are reviewed.
The national Language for Learning expectations and objectives (Appendix E) should be incorporated in the department’s handbook and applied to schemes of work.
Departmental capitation should include a proportion devoted to supplementary text resources, which will encourage wider reading and the use of a greater range of texts.
b) Reading
The literacy level of text-based resources are assessed using a standard reading age analysis (Appendix B).
Texts used in Key Stages 3 and 4 show progression in their degree of literacy difficulty.
The skills of skim reading and scanning are incorporated in lesson plans, where appropriate.
A variety of approaches is used when students are instructed to read during a lesson.
Students are encouraged to have a purpose in mind when reading non-fiction texts.
Students are encouraged to read supplementary texts which present the same or similar subject matter, making lesser or greater literacy demands.
Staff of the department regularly check that the Library has a stock of texts relevant to the subject and the topics studied, and give suggestions for purchasing the latest appropriate texts.
The department makes as much use as possible of the reading development techniques, described at Appendix A, in helping students to improve their learning in the subject through more accurate and sophisticated use of language.
c) Writing
The department discusses, analyses and evaluates regularly the schemes of work in each key stage with regard to the range of written tasks set for students.
Standard English is expected of students in all formal written tasks, except where dialogue or dialect are required.
The department implements as many of the suggestions for writing, described in Appendices A and F, as are appropriate to the subject and its schemes of work.
d) Speaking and Listening
The department sets ground rules for discussion and oral work (see appendix A)
LANGUAGE FOR LEARNING: Tutor Team Responsibilities
Heads of year and tutors can help students develop language for learning by:
• encouraging formal discussion within the group; eg
• presentations to the group about spare time interests (every group has a Billy Casper)
• debates on PSHE issues
• balloon debates
• speaking games with forfeits for saying like, sort of, y’know etc., on the lines of ‘Just a Minute’.
• using some tutor time for quiet reading
• discussion of newspaper articles
Assemblies which are on a reading-related theme are a good way of giving reading a high profile.
LANGUAGE FOR LEARNING: The Library’s role
The library’s role in helping students to use language more effectively in their learning is very important. Efficient and productive use of the library requires students to be skilled in organising their thinking so as to identify, select, and manipulate the resources they need for their studies, and accurate use of language is essential to this process.
Library skills both require and develop language skills. More sophisticated use of language enables more accurate use of the library’s resources, and more advanced library skills enable more accurate and mature use of language.
Therefore the library can contribute to the purposes of the Language for Learning Policy by:
* giving students a developmental programme of library skills
* informing departments about the library skills programme and asking for suggestions to add to it
* encouraging staff to bring students to the library for structured research activity
* asking departments for suggested lists of supplementary reading material and including these in the purchase plan
* keeping departments informed of the latest additions to library stock relevant to each subject area
* holding activities which focus on reading; eg
* book weeks
* themed displays
* teachers’ favourite fiction
* books which made an impact on staff
* what I am reading this month displays
* book reviews by staff and students
* quizzes
* research games
* my 10 favourite books displays
* bibliomanias of science, history, art books etc.
A vital element in the success of the school must be the daily experiences of the students in the learning environment.
All students at Richmond School are offered a curriculum which provides variety and breadth in their studies as well as a range of choices to provide for their individual interests, abilities and aspirations. The full scope of the National Curriculum is enhanced by a range of additional courses at pre-16, offered to meet the needs of particular groups.
It is the policy of the School to seek to offer a range of post-16 courses which extend opportunities for young people. All of this is achieved in an atmosphere of purposeful activity in which students can express their ideas, develop their interests and use their strengths.
The individual learning needs of students, including those with special educational needs, are supported. Most of this support is provided within the classroom so that all students have access to the same broad and balanced curriculum.
The ethos of the School is to encourage and support students and staff to involve themselves in a wide range of extra-curricular provision. This is illustrated by the range of activities undertaken outside the classroom. In addition, these activities demonstrate the important part which the school plays in the community.
* It is the principles of the curriculum at Richmond School
* that all students have access to a broad, balanced, relevant, coherent, progressive and differential curriculum
* that at all stages of development, learning is broad, balanced, relevant, coherent, progressive and differentiated
* that at all stages of development, learning is structured and stimulating and is an enjoyable and worthwhile experience in its own right
* that equality of opportunity underpins the provision for all.
The principles of Richmond School comply with those given in the North Yorkshire Curriculum Statement, and is the vehicle to fulfil the Aims of the School.
PURPOSE
The curriculum will be:
* broad so that it provides a wide range of knowledge, skills and experience
* balanced so that each element is given sufficient time to contribute effectively to learning
* relevant so that each element is directly related to the learner's experience
* coherent so that each element is linked, to make the learning experience meaningful
* progressive so that what is taught builds upon what has gone on before, to develop skills, knowledge and concepts in a systematic and appropriate way
* differentiated so that what is taught and how it is taught is matched by aptitude, ability and achievement.
LANGUAGE FOR LEARNING: The responsibilities of Senior Management
It is important that Language for Learning is included as a key strand in the school’s Development Plan.
Links meetings between senior staff and department heads and pastoral staff should include reference to Language for Learning and the initiatives which each department has introduced and is monitoring.
Progress on Language for Learning should be reported to the Governing Body Pastoral and Curriculum Committee at least annually.
The expectations of language development described in the QCA’s Language for Learning document should be compared with the standards actually being achieved across the school.
Senior Management should support and facilitate initiatives proposed by the Language for Learning Group, or other staff, to tackle language related issues across the school by providing funds, secretarial support, and other necessary back-up in order to fulfil the aims of projects, if they are thought to be appropriate and important.
Parents should be kept informed of the Language for Learning Policy and should be encouraged to play their part in assisting good language development through talk and activity, which will encourage greater sophisticated use of language by their children.