Skip to content ↓

Literacy Intervention

Statement of Intent:

At Kettering Science Academy (KSA) we are fervent advocates of the empowering potential of literacy for all of our students, whatever their starting point. Being able to read fluently, write and speak and listen at an age appropriate level is fundamental in allowing our students to grow and thrive and a key component in our curriculum commitment to learners at KSA. We firmly believe that ‘Every member of staff is a Teacher of Literacy’ and this is a fundamental thread in our development of teaching and learning as we move through 2020 and beyond.

Testing:

YR7 Entry testing, CAT4 and GL Assessment: NGRT & NGST are used to assess students starting points.  Students with a standardised score of 75 or below are invited to take part in our extra literacy curriculum. Those students who fall in the range of 75-85 standardised score may be invited to take part in targeted literacy intervention.

Accelerated Reader:

This year we have introduced Accelerated Reader. This program is where a student reads a book, takes an online quiz, and gets immediate feedback. Students respond to regular feedback and are motivated to make progress with their reading skills. Together with Star Reading and myON by Renaissance, it forms a complete reading practice and assessment solution for students of all ages and abilities. At KSA all year 7 students and selected students in Year 8 and 9 will take part in the Accelerated Reader programme.

The Star Reading tests create a comprehensive set of reports and reveal how much a student has been reading, at what level of complexity, and how well they have understood what they have read. Vocabulary growth and literacy skills are also measured, giving teachers insight into how well students have responded to reading schemes and class instruction.

Further Target Literacy Intervention:

Sight words programme 

Weekly homework; either spelling test or Free Writing task

Formative and summative reading and writing assessments termly for FS qualification level 1

End of year testing and analysis of progress data

Students with low reading ages at KS3 access regular support to improve their Reading Students with very low reading ages access Reading Support from the SEN department in the following ways:

YR7-9 Bespoke literacy curriculum led by specialist assessor for dyslexia and literacy intervention lead x 3 sessions weekly for those students with a standardised score of 75.

YR10-11 Bespoke curriculum led by SENDCo. Modified curriculum option that offers functional skills English to support KS4 progress.

Elklan

We are also a centre that is about to gain an Elklan Communication Friendly Setting (CFSe) accreditation. This is awarded to schools that have trained and support all their staff in communication and language development. Therefore KSA has demonstrated and evidenced that we have embedded this knowledge in targeted interventions through the implementation of a Communication Policy.

Elklan Course Aims:

1.            Equip and empower staff to support students with SCLN with confidence

2.            Support our students to 'be the best they can be' and help to remove barriers to their learning

3.            Promoting effective emotional literacy

4.            Embed a range of communication skills so that all students can communicate successfully and effectively with the tools provided

5.            Understand the differences between expressive and receptive language as well verbal and non-verbal communication

6.            Create an even more inclusive and communication friendly setting for all staff and students

7.            Understanding that oracy impacts on reading, spelling and writing skills.

8.            Secure vocabulary, pronunciation and comprehension.