A Strategy for the Promotion of Literacy and Numeracy in Northern Ireland
Department for Education in Northern Ireland, 1998
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Background information
Provisional Targets in English for 2002
The teaching of English
Improving Pupils' Literacy

Background information

In the 1997 NFER assessments, Northern Ireland children were well ahead of their counterparts in England in English at age 14. The revision of the statutory curriculum, following the 1994 review provided more time for teachers to concentrate on literacy. However there is evidence that standards of literacy generally among young people in Northern Ireland need to be improved:

• Almost 2 in 5 11-year-olds are not attaining Level 4 in the statutory assessments, the level expected for their age in English.
• Employers are concerned that young people entering employment lack competence in basic skills - often despite good qualifications.
• The Northern Ireland findings from the International Adult Literacy Survey published in January 1998 indicate that almost a quarter of the working population has low literacy levels.
• The training and Employment Agency reports a consistent number of young people, approximately 6% of 16-year-olds who leave school inadequately equipped in basic skills.

All pupils in Northern Ireland are now assessed in English at ages 8, 11 and 14

• 80% of pupils should be attaining at Level 4 or above
• at Key Stage 1, all pupils, save those with special educational needs which are so severe as to prevent sufficient progress, should be working at Level 2 or above in each subject
• at Key Stage 3, 75% of pupils should be working at Level 5 or above By sector, this implies, at Key Stage 3:
 
• for grammar schools, a target of 100% (existing position 98%);
• for non-grammar schools, a target of 60% (existing position 45%).

The report summarises the thinking behind the National Literacy Project in England but concludes the position of Northern Ireland schools is different so there are not the same reasons for introducing a highly-structured English teaching regime. Inspectorate evidence is that teaching in English is generally sound and a variety of strategies is used appropriately, including a mix of whole-class teaching, group-work and work with individuals.

However, the inspectorate recognises that the teaching of English is not all that it should be and that it is often too narrow in focus and leaves many children unchallenged. Moreover, in Key Stage 2 in many schools the broader skills take second place to preparing children for the narrowly-focused skills required by the transfer tests. Emphasis will therefore be placed on helping teachers improve and make more use of diagnostic skills and so help minimise testing to that which is necessary to confirm their own judgements and provide enough information to help monitor progress.

The focus for raising standards will be on:

• Helping teachers become more skilled in identifying the specific weaknesses of pupils with literacy problems and in tackling these weaknesses effectively, and as early as possible;
• the promotion of higher standards across the whole ability range, and particularly among boys;
• and, underpinning both aspects, the need to recognise, disseminate and build on the valuable lessons learnt from the many examples of good practice in the teaching of English, both within Northern Ireland and further afield.

The key features of the literacy strategy will therefore be:

Schools will:

• have a written policy on the promotion of literacy among their pupils;
• within their policies, set targets for raising standards in literacy as part of their school development plans;
• designate a teacher or teachers to have specific responsibility for literacy and numeracy across the curriculum.

• establish their policies for the promotion of literacy in their area, including the setting of targets for improvement;
• designate senior members of Curriculum Advisory and Support Service (CASS) staff to have specific responsibility for literacy;
• together with the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) and CCEA, form two Northern Ireland Steering Groups, one each for literacy and numeracy, to promote coherence and consistency in approaches across the Province;
• designate a senior Board Officer to lead on the literacy and numeracy strategy on behalf of all partners in the service;
• establish a pool of 6 Literacy and Numeracy Development Officers in each area to work with schools in raising standards;
• in consultation with CCMS, develop programmes of effective intervention strategies for literacy in primary schools, including the promulgation of Reading Recovery, and disseminate best practice emerging within Northern Ireland and further afield.

• develop guidance to schools on successful approaches to maximising the performance of boys across the curriculum, but with specific reference to literacy skills;
• in their review of the statutory curriculum, provide guidance on the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in promoting literacy, as a feature of all programmes of study.

• set provisional targets for literacy at Key Stages 1-3;
• issue to schools a range of performance information to help schools compare their performance to that of schools in similar circumstances;
• examine and evaluate the extent and quality of provision for student teachers in teaching literacy in all teacher training courses, and ensure that all newly qualified teachers undertake a further training module in literacy;
• provide additional funding to support the literacy strategy.
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