Literacy Intervention
We offer a number of Literacy Intervention Strategies to students in order to address their specific literacy needs. These are offered within the curriculum itself, as well as before and after school, and organised by Miss Baalham, our English Literacy Co-ordinator.
If you are concerned about any aspect of your child’s Literacy skills, please contact your child’s English teacher in the first instance. In many cases, Literacy needs can be addressed with focused work provided by English teachers rather than through after school sessions.
Curriculum Literacy Intervention
MFL Withdrawal
Selected pupils in years 7 and 8 are withdrawn from Modern Foreign Language lessons in order to receive additional Literacy input in small groups of 10-15 students, taught by a member of the English team and usually also supported by a CTA. Pupils are selected on the basis of Prior Attainment Data and recommendations received from Primary feeder schools, and follow a two year Literacy course designed to improve all aspects of Literacy – spelling, reading, and writing skills – through a series of bespoke schemes of work.
Lexia and Word Wasp
These interventions are offered to pupils who enter Copleston with low Literacy levels, and are designed to boost their reading and spelling by following a highly structured programme of study which consolidates their knowledge of phonics taught in the Primary school. Pupils work in as individuals or in very small groups with Classroom Teaching Assistants.
Extra Curricular Intervention
Reading
WordUp: this is a highly successful ten week intervention which has been proven at Copleston to boost a reading ages by an average of 21 months over a ten week period. WordUp involves daily reading with a mentor (usually a CTA or a Senior Literacy Student Leader) and at home with parents, coupled with a rewards package that provides a real incentive to keep reading. In addition to its impact on reading skills and abilities, WordUp also dramatically improves attitudes to reading. Pupils are invited to participate in WordUp, based on reading age assessments carried out in years 7 and 8, and teacher recommendations.
One to One: a less intensive programme than WordUp, our One to One reading programme offers reading three days a week with a student Literacy leader, but over a longer period. Usually offered to selected year 7 students.
Quote from a Classroom teaching assistant working with a pupil on the Word Up scheme:
"Just wanted to let you know how proud I was of 'the student' in an English lesson yesterday.
They were working on reading text, making inferences and looking up meanings of words laying the foundations for some creative writing.
When asked if there were any volunteers to read aloud the extract, 'the student' was very keen and eager and when he did so he was really confident – I was so pleased for him!
I definitely saw a huge difference from the 'the student' at the beginning of last term."
Writing
Handwriting Club: this weekly handwriting session is offered to those whose handwriting skills are not well developed, leading to handwriting that is difficult to read (both for the student and others). It is not unusual for children’s previously neat handwriting to deteriorate in clarity while they develop their own personal style, but this club is offered to those who have mechanical problems that hinder their ability to write neatly and legibly. The sessions offered mobilise the muscles required for writing, develop hand-eye co-ordination and provide practice in letter formation. The objective for members of this Club is to help them develop flowing, joined writing that is quick to produce and easy to read. Pupils are invited to participate in Handwriting Club based on teacher recommendations.
Spelling Club: this weekly session is offered to those for whom spelling presents real difficulties. Students who attend this club will work on improving their knowledge and understanding of phonics, as well as learning common spelling patterns and hard to spell words. A with all of our after school sessions, students are invited to attend based on teacher recommendation.