1. A Whole Education at
Swavesey Village College
Innovations in Literacy
Lesley Daniel
ldaniel@swaveseyvc.co.uk

2. Phase 1 - Inspire!
Launched training day Jan 2012
SVC Strategic plan 2011 - 2014:
100% level 4+ by end of year 7.
Establish whole school literacy priorities each
term, implemented by all departments.

3. Another peculiarity of English that gives it special importance
is that it is the medium of instruction in school—
as, indeed, it is the medium of all intercourse, social and
commercial, public and private. What should have been its
strength in school has been its weakness. As the medium of
instruction it has been everybody's business, and
has, therefore, become nobody's business. Teachers seem to
think that it is always some other person's work to look after
English. But every teacher is a teacher of English because
every teacher is a teacher in English. That sentence should be
written in letters of gold over every school doorway.
George Sampson, English for the English, CUP, 1922

4. The science teacher who tells her class to write "Potassium was added to the test
tube" rather than "I added potassium"; the RE teacher who teaches pupils to use the
verbs "suggests" and "implies" instead of "says"; the PE teacher who teaches the
connectives "as", "although" and "despite"; the history teacher who reminds pupils
to spell the word "government" by saying it inside your head as "govern"+"ment" -
these teachers aren't just "doing literacy". They are teaching their pupils to speak
and read and write like experts in science and RE and PE and history.
That is why George Sampson's words from 1922 remain so relevant: every teacher in
English is a teacher of English, and all our pupils will benefit from a consistent
approach.
But this time, let's not call it literacy. Just say it's what all great teachers - whatever
their subject - do.
Geoff Barton, Headteacher, King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds
TES, 5 March 2010

5. Perception of students:
Only English and MFL consistently correct and assess spoken
and written expression.
Some teachers care more than others about the way you say
or write something.
Perception of staff:
Need for more consistency in our approach to teaching
communication.
Need for guidance.

6. PRESENTATIONS
N
u
c
l
e
i
c
1. Do not read from a script 2. Use only images or key
words on visuals
3. Make eye contact with 4. Use appropriate tone
your audience and standard English

7. PARAGRAPH PYRAMID The sentence that introduces the
subject of the paragraph –
sometimes called the ‘topic
Point sentence’. It should grab the
reader’s attention and link your
paragraph to the question or task
and the previous paragraph.
A sentence or two that clarifies
exactly what you mean in the point
and starts to introduce evidence in
the form of examples, quotations
from other texts and statistics to
Explain - support what you are saying.
Evidence
The most important part of the
paragraph and should be the largest
part. This is where you combine
your evidence with your own
opinion and/ or analysis to convince
the reader of your point of view.
You could consider the variety of
ways in which details could be
interpreted, so that the reader
knows that you have covered all
parts of the topic or analyse details
of your evidence to show greater
Explore - Analyse understanding.
You could introduce more evidence
or compare with other texts ideas.
A final sentence may provide a link
into the next paragraph

11. Phase 2 - Embed
March 2012

12. Make the task and the assessment criteria clear to the class
Show an example and how it is created
The features that make it a success
Students have a go themselves
Self, peer or teacher assessment of the texts produced

13. Year 7 Science Example
• In this lesson we are going to carry a
practical investigation that will be
assessed
• This will be graded based on assessment
focuses on the evaluation– AF 5
• Your task is evaluate the investigation
on the weathering of rocks
• Here is how you need to structure your
evaluation

14. Evaluation
The experiment worked well because
______________.The parts of the method which were
not as good were ______________________. I think this
because __________________________.
I could improve the method by changing
___________________. This would make the results
more accurate/reliable because ___________________.
The data collected was/was not reliable. The evidence for
this is ________. OR The inconsistencies in the data
occurred because _____________.
Overall, I am confident/not confident in my conclusion. I
think this because ________________.

15. Year 7 student KS3 MTG Level 6-
The experiment went well because it was great fun and me
and Emily worked well together and we wrote everything
down.
I could improve the method if there was more time. This
would help because I could do the experiment again.
The data collected was reliable because we collected it in
the lesson.
Overall I am pleased with my results.

Level 3+
Explain why repeating the experiment would make your results
more reliable. Remember PEE – point, evidence, explain

16. Year 7 Student KS3 MTG Level 8
The experiment worked well because we collected enough data to draw a
conclusion from. We repeated the experiment three times and had a good range
of values.
The parts of the method which were not as good were shaking the sugar cubes
with the same force. I think this because the results did not follow the expected
pattern.
I could improve the method by changing the way the bottle is shaken by using a
machine that would control the force and speed. This would make the results
more accurate and reliable because there would be less human error involved.
The data collected was not reliable. The evidence for this is shown in the results
collected. The inconsistencies in the data occurred because the person who shook
the sugar cubes got tired after some time and also may have lost count.
Overall, I am fairly confident in my conclusion. However, there wasn’t a strong
enough negative correlation shown on the graph.
Level 6+ A really good demonstration of a detailed
 evaluation.
Explain how the data might have been interpreted in a
different way as the negative correlation wasn’t strong enough

17. Whole school literacy focus
May 2012
This term’s literacy focus:
•the correct spelling and
use of key words in subject
areas
•the correct use of capital
letters

18. Which of these words should have a capital letter?
mrs jones the lord of the rings
newcastle the sun
sophie
oxfam
of mice and men
doctor edwards
swavesey

21. Using tutor time

22. Word of the Week!
Have you seen
this word around
school?
Look out for it as
you gallivant
around this
week!

23. Word of the Week: Simultaneous
Definition--Simultaneous- adj. happening at the same time.
Discussion--Something that we have all been asked to do at some point
in our life is rub our stomach and pat our head at the same time. If you
successfully accomplished this feat, then you were able to perform
these actions simultaneously!
Etymology--Simultaneous- an
English derivative of the Latin
simul, meaning at the same
time.
French, German and Spanish
all share the common Latin root
with the English translation.
French: simultané(e)
German: simultan
Spanish: simultáneo

24. Crossword 2

25. Across:
1. What is the name of the model for
solids, liquids and gases? (8)
4. The process in which plants get their
energy from the sun? (14)
5
6
8
Down:
7
2. Name the waves that propagate
through the earth after an earthquake?
(7)
2
3. What are all living things called?
4
Living... (8)
5. A force that keeps our earth safe from
3
solar flares? ( 9)
6. A word for the process of reflecting on
the positives and negatives of your
1
work. (10)
7. A prediction for an experiment is
called a... (10)
8. Humans excrete these after digestion.
(6)

26. Literacy Group
Staff training

27. Extending Vocabulary
“If you can’t say it, you can’t write it” (Ros Wilson)
“How do I know what I think until I have heard what I
have said?” (W H Auden)
Teaching and Learning
Session October 3rd 2012

28. Group these words!
Refrigerator Nebular
Eclipse Balthazar
Constellation Lunar
Penguin Metal
Jupiter Antarctica
Microwave Camel

29. Getting more constructive speaking and listening
into the classroom!
Staff training day - January 7th 2013

30. Card ranking/sorting – good for thinking, decision making and
working with others: Preparation needed – resources and lesson organisation.
Students in small groups receive a range of cards with points or facts or
opinions on.
They are asked to arrange them in order of importance/priority or
agree/disagree. They might do this in a straight line or build up tiers.
They might then compare each other’s ranking as a starting point for class
discussion of the issue/topic.

31. In today’s task you are the leader.
Your job: Clear roles defined
•to make sure that every voice is heard
•to keep talk focused on the learning task
Sound bites:
• Let’s hear from ____ next.”
• “That’s interesting, but let’s get back to our
task.”
In today’s task you are the recorder.
Your job:
•to compile group members’ ideas on the
Role cards for sugar paper
•to write on the board for the whole class to
group work see during the presentation
Sound bites:
• “I think I heard you say________; is that
right?”
• “How would you like me to write this down?”

32. 2013 - the next stage:
•department literacy audit
•a common marking policy
•extended pieces of writing in all subject
areas marked for literacy as well as content.

33. – the circled word is spelt incorrectly
– there should be a punctuation mark in the circled area
– the circled letter should be a capital
– the circled letter should not be a capital
- a new sentence should start at this point
- a new paragraph should start at this point
- the expression is poor or unclear in the underlined section
- a word or words are missing from this part of the sentence