The Language for Learning project

Secondary teachers from ten schools across the North Yorkshire coast have been leading their own literacy research projects to explore how a focus on language and literacy
can improve outcomes across a range of subjects.

Working alongside myself and Marcus Jones (literacy lead at Huntington Research School) and with two years’ funding from our local Opportunity Area, these evidenced-based projects are developing their students’ language knowledge and literacy skills so that they can become more accomplished speakers, readers, writers and thinkers.

Schools chose ONE department, ONE Year group, and ONE area of literacy (from reading comprehension; writing; oracy, and vocabulary). We deliberately narrowed the focus in order to avoid potential dilution of practice in the first year. Now, as we come to the end of the project’s first year and complete evaluation visits and evidence portfolios, I am struck by how much appetite there is in schools for improving students’ literacy on a subject by subject basis.

At Scalby School, the science department is focusing on vocabulary in Year 9 by explicitly teaching the morphology and etymology of subject specific vocabulary. When students are taught what the root-word ‘therm’ means and its derivation then they will be able to apply that knowledge to potentially hundreds of different words. When students learn how the ‘-ation’ suffix turns verbs into nouns (the ‘nominalisation’ of verbs) it means that they will be able to spot and understand hundreds of process-based words (distill → distillation/evaporate → evaporation). This is hugely empowering and massively increases the range of words that students are able to comprehend.

At Springhead School (a specialist school providing for children with SEND) the KS3/4 teacher is running a project which merges Science, vocabulary development and the study of picture books. When students read Shadow by Suzy Lee, they used the ‘Frayer Model’ to unpack the meaning of the words transparent and translucent. They then played with different materials over the OHP lamp to see their differing light effects and their learning was brought to life.

At St. Augustine’s School, the History department is teaching students about how non-finite verbs (leading to; hoping for; resulting
in) can be used to increase the sophistication of students’ responses to exam questions. It is remarkable how shining a light on the grammar and sequencing of student responses can yield improved outcomes within the assessment criteria.

Students are now able to more effectively contextualise decisions made by key war-time leaders whilst also developing their sense of historical empathy.

And at The Woodlands School (another of Scarborough’s specialist school’s providing for children with SEND), the KS3/4 lead is teaching students how to use the conjunctions because, but & so to enhance the sophistication of expression in their explanations within the Functional Skills curriculum. It is also helping students to organise their thinking in subjects like History so that they can speak and write with coherence.

Moving into the second year of the project, colleagues will be deciding whether they are going to repeat their project but with a more informed and rigorous approach to planning and evaluation; scale-up their project to other year groups, or roll out their project to other departments/faculties. We are excited about how teachers’ practice will become more focused on core language knowledge and literacy skills and how students will have a range of opportunities to practice those skills so that they can think, speak and write like Scientists, Historians, Geographers.

Paul Offord, Literacy Lead Practitioner and English teacher at Scalby School

To find out more about the project contact mh.jones@huntington-ed.org.uk

1 July, 2019 —
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