The answer to the question might seem rather obvious, to enable pupils to read & write. I have no disagreement with that. However, the choice about what children read and who decides is value-laden. This challenge was laid bare to us when we started looking at developing a literary canon across the small cross phase multi academy trust, which I led until my retirement in December 2019. What fifty books should all children, who attended the academies in the trust, read between the ages of 4 to 14?
Continue readingFlowing from more limited speech, language and communication, in the early years, through more limited vocabulary acquisition pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds struggle to attain the more advanced literacy levels of their advantaged peers. Disaffection and exclusion are all too often rooted in this simple narrative. Continue reading
I rather like the line from Alex Quigley that we’re all teachers of English because we all teach in English. Similar thinking follows for being teachers of literacy and teachers of reading. When I was teaching Science, many moons ago, I’d probably have rolled my eyes at the statement and thought another thing for me to do rather than seeing literacy as the golden thread that potentially runs through all subjects. Crack literacy and you are likely to succeed at school and arguably in life. Continue reading