There is a dedicated focus on numeracy and literacy within our academy. Within the academy, Literacy and Numeracy Coordinators promote the consistent focus and application of these skills across the curriculum and our Directors and Heads of English and Maths support the development and tracking of these initiatives etc. For those students requiring specific literacy support, small group and bespoke programmes are provided via reading interventions and Maths and English tuition.
Our academy provides a variety of programmes and initiatives such as Fresh Start, and Rapid Plus Guided Reading to further strengthen students’ reading skills. Reading is also supported through the tutor programme which includes guided Drop Everything and Read sessions with form tutors. Reading is celebrated via events and competitions to celebrate key reading events in the calendar such as Children’s Book Week, the St Helens’ Book Award scheme and National Poetry Week, alongside other reading events such as author visits. The academy has a very well stocked library which is regularly replenished with new books. Students are encouraged to engage with high quality, ambitious books via our Aspirational Reading list. Reading is additionally a key part of our assembly programme and as part of the extra-curricular programme there is a weekly book club.
Students’ written accuracy is central to the school’s marking policy. There is an expectation that students routinely check and edit work before handing it in. Marking codes are consistently used across all subjects. In numeracy consistent approaches are promoted across subjects and we use Sparx to support students’ mathematical learning.