Literacy

Literacy strategy

At Orion Coopers we recognise the value that literacy brings to the lives of students. Not only is literacy essential to the personal and social development of young people, but it enables them to comprehend, analyse, evaluate and disseminate knowledge with confidence and clarity. 

The recent government publication further supports this principle by stating:     

Pupils with poor reading struggle to read independently, and so read less. As a results, they do not accumulate the background knowledge and vocabulary they need to improve their comprehension. It is therefore harder for them to access the curriculum in their secondary school, because the required levels of literacy rise rapidly beyond primary school. 

Alongside being actively taught vocabulary in lessons, students will read and discuss a variety of carefully selected texts with their tutors, which introduce them to a range of diverse voices, genres, historical periods and, consequently, the richness of vocabulary that forms these written texts. Our aim, alongside the Accelerated Reader programme, is to create a unified focus on the importance and value of reading and writing for purpose and pleasure, to create independent life-long readers. 

How you can help as parents/guardians

• Ensure that your son/daughter reads for at least 15 minutes each day. The recommended time is 15-30 minutes of quality independent reading to have maximum impact
• Listen to your son/daughter read (this seems to stop when children reach secondary school age)
• Help your son/daughter to explain difficult vocabulary and ask questions about the book they are reading 
• Read newspapers and magazines with your child and discuss the articles 
• Encourage your son/daughter to read fiction and non-fiction texts
• Encourage word games such as Wordle or Scrabble
• Play audio books and switch the caption on films/TV shows.