Video of interventions at Michaelston College
Free School Meals: 40%+
Since its inception in 2002 the college has faced the challenge of raising basic literacy levels to ensure students are functionally literate. A range of graded responses have been used to good effect to target students with reading ages under 9 years 6 months, included in-class support, guided reading groups and one to one withdrawal. However, in analysing student progress it became apparent that a different type of support was needed to help students who had the potential to achieve a level 5 in English at KS3, but were unlikely to do so without targeted literacy support. The STAIRS literacy project was introduced to address their needs.
Strategy
Michaelston Community College is situated in a socially challenging area in the west of Cardiff. Over half of the students are entitled to free school meals and a significant proportion of the students entering the college in Year 7 require literacy intervention to enable them to access the mainstream curriculum.
Prior attainment data from feeder primary schools and Cognitive Ability Tests, (CATs), together with internal assessment data was used to identify students who would benefit from participating in the STAIRS project. Small groups of four to six students were withdrawn from mainstream lessons to work with Teaching Assistants for 2 x 1 hour per week for twelve weeks. The Teaching Assistants had received training via the INSET office to enable them to confidently teach skills such as inference, skimming and scanning.
Impact
During 2007/8 the average reading age of students taking part in the STAIRS literacy project improved by 12 months compared with an improvement of 9 months for those who took part in other literacy schemes. The project has been most successful in raising the reading ages of students who achieved a high level 3 or low level 4 in English at KS2.
Strategy
Michaelston Community College is situated in a socially challenging area in the west of Cardiff. Over half of the students are entitled to free school meals and a significant proportion of the students entering the college in Year 7 require literacy intervention to enable them to access the mainstream curriculum.
Prior attainment data from feeder primary schools and Cognitive Ability Tests, (CATs), together with internal assessment data was used to identify students who would benefit from participating in the STAIRS project. Small groups of four to six students were withdrawn from mainstream lessons to work with Teaching Assistants for 2 x 1 hour per week for twelve weeks. The Teaching Assistants had received training via the INSET office to enable them to confidently teach skills such as inference, skimming and scanning.
Impact
During 2007/8 the average reading age of students taking part in the STAIRS literacy project improved by 12 months compared with an improvement of 9 months for those who took part in other literacy schemes. The project has been most successful in raising the reading ages of students who achieved a high level 3 or low level 4 in English at KS2.
Michaelston video
Since its inception in 2002 the college has faced the challenge of raising basic literacy levels to ensure students are functionally literate. A range of graded responses have been used to good effect to target students with reading ages under 9 years 6 months, included in-class support, guided reading groups and one to one withdrawal. However, in analysing student progress it became apparent that a different type of support was needed to help students who had the potential to achieve a level 5 in English at KS3, but were unlikely to do so without targeted literacy support. The STAIRS literacy project was introduced to address their needs.
Strategy
Michaelston Community College is situated in a socially challenging area in the west of Cardiff. Over half of the students are entitled to free school meals and a significant proportion of the students entering the college in Year 7 require literacy intervention to enable them to access the mainstream curriculum.
Prior attainment data from feeder primary schools and Cognitive Ability Tests, (CATs), together with internal assessment data was used to identify students who would benefit from participating in the STAIRS project. Small groups of four to six students were withdrawn from mainstream lessons to work with Teaching Assistants for 2 x 1 hour per week for twelve weeks. The Teaching Assistants had received training via the INSET office to enable them to confidently teach skills such as inference, skimming and scanning.
Impact
During 2007/8 the average reading age of students taking part in the STAIRS literacy project improved by 12 months compared with an improvement of 9 months for those who took part in other literacy schemes. The project has been most successful in raising the reading ages of students who achieved a high level 3 or low level 4 in English at KS2.
Strategy
Michaelston Community College is situated in a socially challenging area in the west of Cardiff. Over half of the students are entitled to free school meals and a significant proportion of the students entering the college in Year 7 require literacy intervention to enable them to access the mainstream curriculum.
Prior attainment data from feeder primary schools and Cognitive Ability Tests, (CATs), together with internal assessment data was used to identify students who would benefit from participating in the STAIRS project. Small groups of four to six students were withdrawn from mainstream lessons to work with Teaching Assistants for 2 x 1 hour per week for twelve weeks. The Teaching Assistants had received training via the INSET office to enable them to confidently teach skills such as inference, skimming and scanning.
Impact
During 2007/8 the average reading age of students taking part in the STAIRS literacy project improved by 12 months compared with an improvement of 9 months for those who took part in other literacy schemes. The project has been most successful in raising the reading ages of students who achieved a high level 3 or low level 4 in English at KS2.
Michaelston video