Language Across the Curriculum Policy
►Introduction
As a school we recognise that the effective use of language is crucial to pupils' development in every subject in the curriculum.Our central concern is to develop pupils' abilities to use language to think, explore, organise thoughts and communicate meaning effectively.
Learning is through language, therefore, it is the professional responsibility of all teachers to be aware of how language works and its function in the classroom.
We recognise, respect and value the experience of language that our pupils bring to school and will strive to extend and develop their linguistic repertoire.
Equality of opportunity for all our students in our school is firmly based on our understanding of the relationship between language and learning. Back to top
►Policy Statements
●A student's language development is the responsibility of all staff.●We recognise that it is not possible to deliver the National Curriculum without developing students' language skills.
●The four language skills are equally important and strategies for developing them should be incorporated in curriculum planning.
●We recognise that reading is a continuous development, and is not simply the process of decoding print, but reading for meaning and understanding.
●The school should have an agreed marking policy. Back to top
►Speaking and Listening
A Literacy Policy should include opportunities for students to:●Talk for a range of purposes and with a variety of audiences
●Plan, discuss and evaluate their speaking and listening
●Explore ideas through drama and role play
●Use talk to explore and develop ideas at length
●Use talk to develop their feelings and opinions
●Use talk to plan, explore and evaluate other activities
●Ask questions as well as answer them
●Listen and take on the ideas of others
●Solve problems collaboratively
●Explore ideas through the medium of IT
Lessons should help students to:
●Value and respect the talk of others
●Value speaking and listening as a primary medium of learning
●Learn to select from, reformulate, question and challenge what they hear
A successful Literacy Policy should aim to provide:
●Some activities which are structured to make speaking and listening an essential part of them
●Opportunities for students to interview and discuss with their parents and other adults as part of homework assignments
We will aim to:
●Help students to select an appropriate degree of formality in relation to their purpose and audience
●The school should have an agreed spelling policy.
The following aims relate to the use of the four language skills and provide the basis for a whole school language policy. It is hoped that the suggestions will help faculties to focus on and, with subject specific examples, clarify ideas on how best to develop the use of language in their classrooms.
●Help students to appreciate the differences between standard English and non-standard dialect forms and to choose the appropriate form for their purpose
●Foster students' self-esteem by encouraging pride in their dialect
We will aim to:
●Refer to students' use of speaking and listening in assessments and reports
●Use our assessments of students' speaking and listening to help us plan their work Back to top
►Reading
A whole school Literacy Policy should aim to provide opportunities for students to:●Use reading for research
●Use the school library
●Find information through IT
●Discuss their reading in different subject areas
●Read out loud, hear the teacher read, read in small groups
In our teaching we will aim to:
●Draw students' attention to the structure of texts, referring to contents pages, indexes, and chapter headings
●Tell students the purpose of any reading they do
●Help students to adapt their style of reading to their purpose e.g. skim, scan, or to read closely
●Teach students to select information that is relevant
●Encourage students to question and challenge information in textbooks, encyclopaedias, newspapers and computers
●Encourage students to use information from their reading, rather than just answer questions about it
●Talk to students about their subject reading
●Provide opportunities for inexperienced readers to read in pairs or small groups
●Help students to understand subject specific terms and meanings of terminology used in examination questions
We will aim to provide:
●Displays of reading material relevant to the topic and/or to National Curriculum subjects
●Relevant biographies, autobiographies, diaries and imaginative literature
●A variety of different types of material in addition to books and IT
●Reading material at appropriate levels of interest and difficulty
●Reading material of high quality, i.e. attractive, up to date, relevant and balanced in its presentation of culture and gender
●Displays of relevant vocabulary
We will aim to:
●Refer to students' use of reading in assessments and reports for all subjects
●Use our assessments of students' reading to help us plan their work. Back to top
►Writing
A school Literacy Policy should aim to provide opportunities for students to:●Write for a range of purposes in a variety of forms
●Write for a variety of audiences including read audiences
●Plan, draft, discuss and reflect on their writing
●Write at length
●Write freely to marshal thoughts and develop new understandings
●Use information technology for re-drafting, discussion and reflection
●Use information technology for publishing and presenting writing.
In our lessons we will aim to:
●Make connections between students' reading and writing so that students have clear models for writing
●Help students to plan, draft and evaluate their writing where appropriate
●Set writing tasks which have clear and immediate purposes
●Draw attention to the purpose and audience of each piece of writing
●Teach students to structure their writing using sentences, paragraphs and headings as appropriate
●Display students' writing attractively
We will aim to:
●Expect high standards of presentation where appropriate
●Provide dictionaries, glossaries and lists of appropriate subject vocabulary and encourage students to use them
●Help students to use a range of strategies to learn spellings, including:
Look - say - cover - write - check
Making connections between words with the same spelling patterns
Exploring families of words
We will aim to:
●Give priority to content, ideas and meaning when responding to students' writing
●Treat students' writing with respect
●Refer to students' use of writing in assessments and reports
●Use our assessments of students' writing to help us plan their work. Back to top
