Literacy

At Christ the King Catholic Voluntary Academy, literacy is an important element of  every subject that our students study. Our literacy policy states:

We will challenge each other to set and achieve the highest goals in academic subjects and personal development”

Christ the King Catholic Voluntary Academy Mission Statement

Rationale

Literacy underpins the whole school curriculum by developing students’ abilities to speak, listen, communicate, think, explore and organise. We firmly believe that all teachers are teachers of literacy. As such, the staff at Christ the King are committed to developing literacy skills in all pupils.

Our school recognises that:-

  • improving literacy can have a positive impact on students’ self-esteem, motivation and behaviour. It allows them to learn independently. It is empowering, opening up personal pathways to success, central to personal expression and active participation in society, the economy and culture
  • students need vocabulary, expression and organisational control to cope with the cognitive demands of different subjects within the curriculum
  • reading helps students learn from sources beyond their immediate experience
  • writing helps students to sustain and order their thoughts
  • language helps students to reflect, revise and evaluate in both written and spoken word
  • responding to higher order questions encourages the development of thinking skills and enquiry

Aims of this guide:

In the guide outlined below, you will find an outline of the key areas of literacy at Christ the King, as well as a number of suggestions about how you can support your child during their time with us. There are also some useful resources that we use in school that can help your child to check their literacy in their homework. These are in the form of our Literacy Mat and Guidelines for Presentation. Finally, there are some key words for the subjects your child will study in Year 7, and you can use the spelling advice page to support your child in practising the spelling of these words at home.

What is Literacy?

We want our students to develop literacy skills in every subject that they study as literacy gives them access to every part of our curriculum. Four key areas within the classroom are:

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Speaking:

e.g. taking part in class/group discussions; volunteering to answer questions; giving formal presentations; sharing ideas and supporting their peers

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Listening:

e.g. listening to instructions so that you can carry them out successfully; concentrating on what is being said to you; responding to the ideas of others in class.

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Reading:

e.g. improving your reading skills by reading a variety of literature and non-fiction texts; developing an understanding of language, style and form; building vocabulary and understanding using a dictionary and/or a thesaurus.

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Writing:

e.g. choosing the best form, style and language for the audience, purpose and form; presentation and layout; using ICT appropriately to communicate effectively; spellings and ways to learn them; grammar and punctuation – how they too can shape meaning.

Presentation and Literacy Tips

Guidelines for Presentation

Literacy Mats