Leading from the front – the role
of English in developing literacy
across the school
Lesley Daniel
Associate inspector
20 March 2015
Leading from the front – the role
of English in developing literacy
across the school
Aims of session:
 to place literacy within the context
of a secondary inspection
 to share examples of good
practice of what works in
secondary schools
20 March 2015
Removing barriers to literacy

In the secondary schools where teachers
in all subject departments had received
training in teaching literacy and where
staff had included an objective for
literacy in all the lessons, senior
managers noted an improvement in
outcomes across all subjects, as well as
in English.
From the handbook - during an
inspection:

Inspecting the teaching of literacy, including
reading

Inspectors will consider the impact of teaching and
outcomes across the range of the school’s provision and
will use the evidence they gather to inform the overall
evaluation of pupils’ achievement, the quality of teaching,
and the impact of leadership and management on raising
standards. When making the key judgements,
inspectors will give particular attention to the
teaching of literacy (including reading) and
mathematics.
What judgements does literacy affect?
Quality of leadership and management
Good and outstanding judgements –

The well-thought-out policies ensure that pupils make at
least good progress in literacy.
Inadequate judgement -

Poor literacy is not being tackled urgently and this is
impeding pupils’ progress.
What judgements does literacy affect?
Observing teaching and learning –
When observing and judging teaching, inspectors must be
guided by the response and engagement of pupils and
evidence of how well they are learning.
190.Inspectors must consider whether:
 pupils’ responses demonstrate sufficient gains in their
knowledge, skills and understanding, including of literacy
and mathematics
What judgements does literacy affect?
Achievement
progress in literacy and mathematics are assessed by
drawing on evidence from other subjects in the curriculum,
where this is sensible
Outstanding

Pupils read widely, and often across all subjects to a high
standard.

Pupils develop and apply a wide range of skills to great
effect in reading, writing, communication and
mathematics.
What judgements does literacy affect?
Overall effectiveness
-The school is likely to be inadequate if inspectors judge
any of the following to be inadequate:
pupils’ progress in literacy
Outstanding:
There is excellent practice which ensures that all pupils have
high levels of literacy appropriate to their age.
Literacy –
gathering evidence on inspection
Is there a clear policy?
How aware are staff and students?
How visibly and consistently is it being used?
Is there any evidence of impact?
Removing barriers to literacy
Inspectors visited schools mainly in areas of high socioeconomic disadvantage. These schools had a clear picture of
the challenges facing them in raising the levels of literacy for
their pupils. They cited:
• poorly developed speech, including a very limited vocabulary
• low aspirations in the home and few set routines or clear
boundaries for children’s behaviour
• poor attendance
• a reluctance by parents and carers to engage with the school
• limited experience of life beyond the immediate community.
• While these challenges applied to both primary and
secondary schools, the latter reported the last four more
frequently.
‘Pupils who were less enthusiastic about
the subject and made poorer progress
said that it had little to do with their lives
or interests outside school.’
Removing barriers to literacy
Schools should:
• teach phonics systematically as part of the teaching of reading and ensure
that pupils’ progress in developing their phonic knowledge and skills is
regularly assessed
• ensure that governors regularly receive reports which include the progress
and attainment in English of particular groups, such as White British boys
and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals
• raise the expectations of staff for pupils from low-attaining groups,
especially in Year 7, and use all available assessment information to
ascertain their literacy needs and to set them challenging targets; this is
particularly important to establish suitable expectations for GCSE English
language
• consider nominating a member of staff to take responsibility for maximising
the achievement of learners who are potentially at risk of failing to reach
average levels of skills in literacy
• ensure that all teaching and support staff receive regular training in
developments in teaching literacy
Removing barriers to literacy
The more effective secondary schools in the survey had put in place a
range of support for pupils in need of intensive help with reading and
writing. This support included:
• providing one-to-one reading support for pupils with very low reading
ages (defined as a reading age of seven or lower); typically, three
hours of support each week
• ensuring that pupils who were learning English as an additional
language received support that focused on their particular needs
• providing the English department with teaching assistants who had a
full-time commitment to it
• establishing additional reading programmes, sometimes with the help
of volunteers
• introducing lessons on phonics for Year 7 pupils with low reading ages
(defined as pupils with a reading age below nine years)
• establishing a mentoring programme for the more vulnerable pupils to
ensure that they attended school and English lessons regularly.
Removing barriers to literacy
As a result of monitoring, the most successful secondary schools
visited had made incremental changes to meet individuals’ needs
more effectively. These changes included the following:
• increasing the number of lessons of English in Key Stage 3;
seven schools ensured daily short periods
• introducing additional dedicated library lessons or reading time
• establishing identified literacy time, as distinct from English, to
teach core skills, often with students grouped by ability
• ensuring that all Year 7 students had a reading book and that
personal reading took place at specified times, for example, at
tutor time
• developing robust assessment, identifying students’ progress in
reading, writing and spelling
• ensuring that teachers in all faculties included objectives for
literacy in their lesson plans.
Good practice
Removing barriers to literacy

The most successful schools
emphasised that there was no
‘eureka’ moment, that is to say,
specific or unusual practice. Rather,
they made what one school described
as ‘painstaking adjustments’ to what
they did when their monitoring
provided evidence of weaknesses and
they stuck with what worked.
‘Standards are raised ONLY by changes which
are put into direct effect by teachers and
pupils in classrooms’
Black and Wiliam,
‘Inside the Black Box
Key
words
Summer School
What makes a difference?
 Clear whole school approach understood by staff
and students – use of assemblies and tutor time
 Whole staff training – audit/address needs/written
into PM
 Incorporates S&L, writing and reading
 Visible – displays, books, modelling, competitions
 Subject audit and tracking of text types, S&L and
extended writing opportunities
 High expectations of teacher’s own presentation –
PPs/worksheets/spelling/feedback
What makes a difference?
 Involving parents
 Reporting to governors
 Regular reminders to staff/ termly focus
 Analysis of impact – student/teacher surveys;
tracking of a target group
What else?
Good to share, need to know!
Literacy –
what would I find in your school?
Do you have a clear policy?
How aware of it are your staff and students?
How visibly and consistently is it being used?
Do you have any evaluation of impact?
What actions can you take to improve this picture?