Literacy role and out of my depth

[Lilllypad11]

Been offered a post as leading on the schools literacy curriculum.

it’s a ks3-5 academy. I feel really stuck on what I need to be doing. So far I’ve done the displays promoting basic literacy stuff within the English dept and I run the intervention sessions. But I could really use some ideas on how I can be fulfilling this role to the best of my abilities as I’m worried they’ll look at me and think “what’s he doing to raise literacy in the school”

Are there others in the academy chain network that you can speak to for 'best practice' etc.

Do you know what the literacy needs of the school are?
When ofsted come, they are likely to want to talk to you about what and why and how things are being done.

Yeah I’ve read the ofsted report. When I applied for this school in September the HOD was changing over so the new one hasnt really told me much. Also, I looked through the ofsted reports and I tried to figure it out through that and there’s not much said there either.

I was just wondering what others do and what I could be doing I suppose but I know it’s all school dependant.

I'm an English teacher but literacy sits outside that in my school. We've worked on identifying the reading gap and intervening to close it - when ofsted came, that was their main focus.

Can you look at your schools development plan. We're a small primary school but our head often shares it with us throughout the year.

Read this:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65830c10ed3c34000d3bfcad/The_reading_framework.pdf

and this:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/now-the-whole-school-is-reading-supporting-struggling-readers-in-secondary-school/now-the-whole-school-is-reading-supporting-struggling-readers-in-secondary-school

Whole-school literacy is an enormous job and it is impossible to do it all at once so you need to be strategic.

Firstly: you need to know who your struggling readers are, how you identify and diagnose their needs, and what interventions are in place. If a system of screening and follow-up diagnostic testing is not currently in place then this must be your first priority.

Once this is established (which can take a year or more depending on your starting point) your next focus can be disciplinary literacy.

Displays are literal window-dressing and not a good use of your time. You can’t promote a culture of literacy if a significant minority of pupils can’t read accurately or fluently. Literacy should be on the school development plan - make sure that you have a copy.

This is an area of expertise for me and a significant part of my day job. I am happy
to answer any questions on the thread or via DM.

I'm not a literacy lead but very interested in literacy ( I teach science). Thinking about what we do in our school;

New group reading test and another test (name has escaped me at the moment) to identify weak readers and their issues. Fresh start phonics and/or Lexia intervention as appropriate.

Information is shared with teachers about how to support these children in lessons. As a school, if we are using a piece of text with children, we read it aloud and they follow. This models fluency and supports the weakest readers to access the text.

We explicitly teach carefully chosen subject specific words (chosen by each HoD). Writing is carefully modelled as appropriate and we use turn and talk alongside making sure children speak in full sentences, don't use slang in the classroom etc.

Form time twice a week we read a class book. Very carefully chosen to engage pupils and address key issues relevant to our context. Adult reads aloud and pupils read along with a reading ruler. We have a booklet, created by literacy lead, which supports the team so we can discuss the text with pupils, highlight key words etc.

Our library is very well used and the librarian is wonderful.

The key is that things in isolation are unlikely to be the most effective. Everything needs to join up and literacy needs to be a thread through the curriculum, including taking account of the disciplinary literacy.

I would suggest you try to find a local school who has strong literacy provision and go and visit to see what they do.

Similar picture to what @PumpkinPie2016 describes at my school.

Your starting point really needs to ascertain your current situation overall as well as this. Until you know what you are trying to address, you cannot lead development.

Forgot to say last night - get yourself enrolled on the NPQLL. Depending on your local arrangements you may not have a choice of provider but if you do I recommend Ambition Institute.

Do not do NPQLL with teach first. It's awful.

I've done literacy leadership in two schools.

You will be able to do nothing without the whole-hearted and public support of senior management. I did not have this in either of my schools. Have a meeting with the head to nut out what OFSTED identified and what's in the school plan.

It needs to be school wide, all subjects and that's no easy job.

If you do training, see if it can be done with another staff member.

Look at joining @LiteracyCommUK