Making progress
Maggie Croxford
 

As one of the authorities that piloted the key stage 3 literacy strategy last year, Greenwich LEA introduced literacy progress units to bring children who are lagging behind in literacy up to scratch. English inspector Maggie Croxford describes how it went, with additional reports from two of the schools involved.

One of the major drawbacks in piloting the literacy progress units last year was the late arrival of the National Literacy Strategy materials. This meant that those schools that had made timetabled provision from the beginning of September had to use other materials. When they finally arrived, the strategy materials were felt to he of a high quality. They included units on phonics, spelling, writing organisation, reading between the lines, sentences and information retrieval.

In our training to schools we provided them with a variety of organisational models for implementation, including:

• withdrawal across the curriculum
• delivery within English time when classes are setted
• delivery within additional English curricular time
• delivery at lunchtime and after school.

Schools in the LEA have taken different approaches, drawing on the expertise and skills available in their schools. We have encouraged this flexibility rather than promoting a 'one size fits all' approach. For instance, in one school an excellent mathematics teacher with expertise in literacy has taken on board both literacy and numeracy catch-up schemes, which are going very well. In another school, the English and humanities faculties take responsibility for delivering LPUs during curriculum time, which is equally successful. And in a third school, classroom assistants deliver the LPUs backed up by a substantial school-based training programme to support them.

The whole school needs to understand the rationale, arrangements and results of the LPU sessions and that time is given to the preparation of resources well in advance. Equally important is for the school to keep records of pupils' progress and make sure these are passed on to the pupils' mainstream teachers.

So how have schools responded to the new scheme? Everyone is enthusiastic about the structured materials and in some schools certain modules, for example, information retrieval and writing organisation, are being used in mainstream classes across the curriculum. Late delivery of the materials, however, meant that the progress tests in Year 7 did not give a fair assessment of pupils' progress.

Last year was very much a trial period and it is only this year that teaching of LPUs has become embedded in all our schools. Because we have many pupils entering secondary schools below level 4, we see this programme as a vital strand of our key stage 3 strategy.

Lloyd Edwards, learning support teacher, Plumstead Manor School
The literacy progress unit sessions were sold to the students (Plumstead Manor is a girls only school) as fun, games-filled lessons which would give their reading, writing and spelling a boost. We emphasised that this would give them more success in their lessons right across the curriculum. This additional literacy support scheme was introduced one day after a Year 7 assembly when the special needs coordinator talked to girls who had achieved level 3 in the key stage 2 tests. They were told that the literacy progress units would be taught at lunchtimes and after school. The response was only fair as, after all, the lessons were in their own leisure time. Twenty-four girls signed up for the eighteen lessons to be taught in four groups of six. We used our special education teaching rooms. All but one of the groups opted for lunchtime sessions which would last 20 minutes out of a 60-minute lunch break.

Our LPU teachers were a right mixture. One grey-bearded teacher, one office assistant, one reprographic wizard and we made up the rest from our inimitable learning support assistants. We trained after school one to one-and-a-half hours per week. They were relaxed practical sessions working through the Strategy manual, cutting and chopping, rewriting and moulding, then acting out the lessons, taking turns to be teacher or student. We practised our delivery, our gestures and responses, timed ourselves, played the games and soon felt at ease with the pace and rhythm of the LPU lesson.

The skills picked up in these additional sessions have enhanced the girls' self-esteem, added a layer to their understanding of words and their spellings and helped them to shine right across the curriculum. For example, the 'nuances' taught in writing organisation will drag the student to the not thought of/barely hoped for echelon of level 5. There have been wider benefits too. The head of the English department was delighted when reading the lesson titles in the teachers' manual as she felt that they were extremely relevant for her Year 11 girls.

To use a building analogy, students need the tools to use and scaffolding to support them in order to succeed at the higher levels. The literacy progress units give students the best power tools we can provide. The units are closely matched to curriculum objectives in the key stage 3 strategy so that the students are able to put into practice their newly acquired language skills back in the classroom. These units are putting width on the head of the nail which means you just can't miss.

As a fun learning experience, the LPU approach was a great success. The student numbers held and then pressure grew for us to take on more students. The students all had a pressure-free successful learning experience. They had the chance to work on white boards, to show off a little, play games, to be a little loud, to laugh and to go away with an improved understanding and a feeling of empowerment.

Also important was that the teachers enjoyed the whole thing and 'to a man' have volunteered for this year's cycle. The LPU staff appreciated the chance to lead, model and teach their own 'mini' lessons after a thorough and practical training. They appreciated the professional remuneration too. The school paid our staff for the training time as well as the teaching time. This year's training has already begun. The materials have been made. We will be ready.

Di Bruce, key stage 3 teaching and learning coordinator, Kidbrooke School
Planning for the catch-up provision (now known as LPU) at Kidbrooke began early, well before the summer term. While the tutor groups of the Year 7 intake remain mixed ability, we decided to re-group pupils into four upper classes, two LPU classes and two classes with students with below level 3 or level 3 borderline. The groupings were finalised during the summer term once we had received information from the primary schools on key stage 2 test predictions. The English department teaches the LPUs in three sessions per week, as well as the 3+ hours of the English curriculum. Experience showed that keeping to the regular times is important. The classes have support from learning development assistants trained by the LEA.

How successful was it?
The groupings worked well. The LPU classes were well motivated and students made progress, although this was not reflected in the LPU test results. (The tests came too soon and before we had finished
 delivering all the units.) One sign of success however was that we were able to move children up into the LPU classes from the two lower sets during the year, an approach we were keen to encourage from the start.

One difficulty in delivering the progress units in small groups, using our system, was the need for a minimum of three members of staff. This was rarely possible in practice. On occasions, teachers delivered units to the class as a whole which they felt was effective, as well as enjoyable. We liked the content of the LPUs but found it time consuming to create the materials, for example, laminating word cards. The materials, though well structured in terms of delivery, are aimed at quite a high level and we are looking forward to receiving the materials that will be more suitable for lower-achieving students. Many of the materials have also been used with students in key stage 4, where the units on note taking and retrieving information were particularly useful.

With staff changes this academic year, the LPU classes are being taught by teachers new to the National Literacy Strategy which has required further induction but our experience last year will give us a head start.
 

Key stage 3 strategy The literacy progress units are one of the three strands of the literacy strategy for key stage 3, along with the English framework and literacy across the curriculum. For information on the implementation of the strategy click here.  English Frameworking, written by Trust deputy director Julia Strong and published by Collins Education, provides a course of lessons that deliver all the learning objectives required by the English framework. There are separate students' books for Year 7,8 and 9 (£8.99 each) and accompanying books of teaching resources (£29.99). Julia is the author of Literacy Across the Curriculum: making it happen (£44.99). For information contact Collins Education on 0870 0100 442 or click here.

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