CELCIS Education Conference
Laying the foundations: Improving literacy
among looked after children
Tuesday 21 February 2017 | Celtic Park, Glasgow
Workshop Information
Workshop 1
‘We’re no there yet!’ Growth Mindset: A school leadership approach to
culture change
John Paul Fitzpatrick, Winning Scotland
Many people have heard of the underpinning concepts of Professor Carol Dweck
on Growth Mindset. How do you make this a reality across a school learning
community? What is the relationship between leadership and Mindset that makes
or breaks a schools desire to empower staff and pupils to understand and apply
Growth Mindset approaches?
This lively session explores a more strategic approach to embedding Mindset by
learning from practice underway across Scotland and gives tangible case studies,
concept and ideas for creating permanent culture change within an entire school
or wider learning community.
Workshop 2
Storytime: our work with virtual schools in England and initiatives to
improve literacy for hard to reach children
Leslie Coathup and Lulu Mazzocco, Storytime
Storytime is the UK’s only story magazine, used by parents and teachers across
the UK for children aged between three and nine. It’s a social enterprise with an
aim to get children enjoying stories and developing a love of reading.
The publishers of Storytime will explain how they have worked with virtual
schools in England, as well as sharing how schools have used non-traditional
media and other initiatives in improving literacy and increasing parental
involvement for hard to reach children and families. They will invite the
delegates to share and discuss strategies and reading materials that have
worked best for them to engage looked after children in enjoying reading.
Workshop 3
How can songs, rhymes and stories build confidence in looked after
children?
Tracy Cooper and Emma Lamont, Scottish Book Trust
This workshop will provide guidance and resources on using songs, rhymes and
stories to foster literacy across learning and encourage your pupils to have fun
with reading.
Regularly sharing stories, singing and saying rhymes with a parent or carer can
have a significant impact on a child’s language and literacy development and
help provide children with a sense of safety, security and routine. This session
will be of interest to lower primary and early years practitioners and will focus on
creating a bridge between home and school, giving you lots of practical tips and
advice for bringing stories to life with your pupils.
Workshop 4
Can Paired Reading be an invaluable influence in raising reading ages
and developing social skills?
Peter Maiolani, Heather Paul, Amy Nicholson, Kate McBurnie, Jack McDonald,
Castlehead High School
Delegates attending this workshop will be presented with an overview of
Castlehead High School’s Paired Reading Club, learning its history and aims,
hearing about success stories, the methodology, and how the club has been
evaluated by pupils and their parents.
There will be an opportunity to watch a short film of the club in action, as well as
to review the training and information materials and a practice session on the
Paired Reading techniques. Four pupils from the school, who are involved in the
Paired Reading Club, will be involved in the delivery of the workshop.
Workshop 5
Do monthly books in the post improve local authority engagement with
children in care and their carers?
Kirsteen Watson, Dollywood Foundation UK
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library (DPIL) was launched, in Scotland, in 2011 and
aims to provide all looked after children, aged 0 - 5 in Scotland, with the gift of a
specially selected book each month, posted directly to their homes. The initiative is
funded by the Scottish Government and is administered by the Scottish Book Trust
working with local authorities.
The aim of this project is to foster a love of reading among this particular group of
pre-school children and to improve their accessibility to age-appropriate books. The
workshop will present key findings from the 2015 evaluation of the project and will
also look at local enrolment, engagement strategies and impact, including research
from local, national (UK) and international delivery models. Delegates will work in
groups to discuss their views, all of which will feed into the development strategy for
the work in Scotland.
Workshop 6
How can we improve looked after children’s literacy?
Martin Gemmell, City of Edinburgh Council
This workshop will share the details of historical research conducted by
educational psychologists in Edinburgh, with a cohort of looked after children.
The success this research had in improving literacy attainment is placed within
the context of the City of Edinburgh Council’s Integrated Literacy Strategy for all
children (pre-school to secondary).
Looked after children’s literacy improvement in Edinburgh is an example of how
the resources made available this April, as part of the Pupil Equity Fund, can be
used to narrow the gap and break the link between poverty and poor educational
attainment. However, schools must be careful how they spend this cash, as
whilst money is necessary, it is not sufficient to narrow the attainment gap.
During the workshop, the presenter will identify the factors which promote
ongoing success in Edinburgh and other local authorities. Participants will be
encouraged to reflect on their own working context and how some of the success
factors could be applied there.