Category: Literacy

P7-S1 Transition – Braes Cluster

       

The Braes Cluster Literacy Working Group have been working to  develop a shared language with regards to reading comprehension across all associated schools. Part of our development work in the 2016/17 academic year involved the implementation of a transition task to be started by P7 pupils in their feeder primaries and then utilised during S1 transition visits to support critical essay writing.

The chosen text was a short story titled ‘The New Boy’, by Geddes Thomson. The children read this text in their P7 classes but the ending was not revealed until their two day visit to Braes High School. They arrived to the English Department to see their poster tasks, with annotations to reflect the six comprehension strategies for reading, displayed in the corridor. Their English lessons were then focussed upon transforming their character visualisations and inferences into a critical essay.

Positive feedback from staff and pupils upon completion of this project has encouraged our working group to devise a similar activity for May 2018 – potentially using poetry or song lyrics as the stimulus for analysis. Watch this space for further updates!

Shaping the Falkirk Literacy Strategy

On Friday 24th November the literacy leads from each cluster of schools across the Falkirk area met to discuss and shape our new Children’s Service literacy strategy. We spoke in detail about the work which had been done between this meeting and our last and agreed that:

  1. The literacy strategy should be visual – Sketchnote format would be ideal.
  2. It should link to related materials and be a genuine “One Stop Shop” which cuts down on workload and gives necessary information as succinctly as possible – we will hyperlink as much as is useful.
  3. We need to make effective use of technology to make the strategy as engaging as possible – images, video and sound work best – we will gather video, examples of literacy practice, teachers and early years officers talking about what works for them

During the meeting we identified tasks such as creating a Falkirk literacy hashtag so everyone in our authority can find literacy work easily using Twitter. We settled on #FLIT, and have already started using this.

Each cluster literacy lead person will use this blog to post about developments in literacy within their own school and cluster – watch this space!

Our final priority task during the meeting was to structure our Literacy OneNote document to make it as useful as possible for practitioners across the authority. Yvonne Manning and Yvonne McBlain will work on this document using the criteria above to guide them.

Can you write a story in just 50 words?

The Scottish Book Trust runs a writing competition every month inviting you to write a story in 50 words! They provide a prompt for a story to get you started.

The competition includes the following categories:

  • Young Writers 5-11
  • Young Writer 12-18.

The entries will be judged by a panel and the winning stories will be published on the Scottish Book Trust’s website two weeks after the closing date.

Prizes are awarded to a writer in each category:

  • Young Writers 5-11: A fun selection of books.
  • Young Writers 12-18: A great selection of books

Find out more here

 

Welcome to our “Refreshed” Literacy Blog

We hope you like the refreshed  look of our Falkirk Children’s Services Literacy Blog?

Carol Turnbull, team manager with responsibility for literacy, Yvonne Manning, Yvonne McBlain and our new team of “Literacy Leaders” from every cluster, are also refreshing our Falkirk Children’s Services Literacy Strategy. The two Yvonnes are consulting with parents, partners and pupils across the authority to get their input into the strategy. Their task is to have the final document ready by January 2018.

Literacy Leaders adapted the initial draft strategy ideas prepared by the Yvonnes, and these are being developed as we speak. The document itself will be streamlined into a one-page poster with links to relevant key materials, and capable of being emailed and/or printed. There will also be a Falkirk Literacy Strategy OneNote document which can be accessed using your Glow login details. This will be used as a “One-Stop Shop” for depositing key literacy materials and documents. These resources will be complemented by this blog, where we will share news and developments, and  examples of teaching and learning in literacy, languages and English. The literacy leads will use the blog to update us on the development of literacy work in each cluster too.

Watch this space for further developments, but if you’d like to know more, or if you can help make our new strategy even better, please contact carol.turnbull@falkirk.gov.uk , yvonne.manning@falkirk.gov.uk or yvonne.mcblain@falkirk.gov.uk  .

RED Book Award

RED Book Award

The RED Book Award is Falkirk Council’s Book Award in which each secondary school in the authority participate. RED stands for Read, Enjoy, Debate and is all about reading for enjoyment and stimulating lively debate about books. https://twitter.com/readenjoydebate?lang=en

The award is now in its 12th year. This year’s shortlist is:

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird

Boy X by Dan Smith

Hell and High Water by Tanya Landman

13 and 14-year-olds from English classes in Bo’ness Academy, Braes High, Denny High, Falkirk High, Graeme High, Grangemouth High, Larbert High and St. Mungo’s High as well as reading groups in Polmont Young Offenders Institute and from a variety of countries take part. The young people read the 4 shortlisted titles, vote for their favourite book and produce a creative interpretation of one of the books for the award ceremony.

The Books

The shortlist of books is decided after lengthy debate by school and public librarians, young people feed in their opinions to the debate too. The criteria include books must be available in paperback, the author is available to attend the award ceremony and the books must have the wow factor.

The young people decide the winning book through a secret vote a few weeks before the award ceremony. The winner is revealed by opening the red envelope at the close of the big day!

Key Dates

April – August: A longlist of books is read from which the shortlist is agreed.

September – April: Young people read, enjoy and debate the books.

April: Pupils vote for their favourite book.

May: The RED Book Award ceremony held at the Falkirk Town Hall FTH

The RED Book Award Ceremony

Around 250 young people and invited guests pack into the Falkirk Town Hall to participate in the RED Book Award ceremony. Participants are encouraged to wear a red accessory and there are prizes (sponsored by Bright Red Books, www.brightredpublishing.co.uk) throughout the event for winners of the book review competition (sponsored by Palimpsest, www.palimpsest-bp.co.uk), a book cover design competition and best red accessory. The day is full of energy and fun and packed with a host of activities – from book signings and chatting with the authors to creative interpretations of the books and live entertainment by the young people.

The ceremony culminates in the opening of the red envelope to reveal the winning book.

Follow the RED on twitter.

Previous winners and shortlists:

RED 11 (2016-2017 award): 13 Hours by Narinder Dhami

Nominated:

  • The Apple Tart of Hope Sarah M Fitzgerald
  • The Year of the Rat Clare Furniss
  • Devil You Know Cathy MacPhail

RED 10 (2015-2016 award): Mind Blind by Lari Don

Nominated:

  • Beneath Gill Arbuthnot
  • Salvage Keren David
  • Inflicted Ria Frances

RED 9 (2014-2015 award): Raining Fire by Alan Gibbons

Nominated:

  • Rat Runners Oisin McGann
  • Mosi’s War Cathy MacPhail
  • Soul Shadows Alex Woolf

RED 8 (2013-2014 award): Slated byTeri Terry

Nominated:

  • Mortal Chaos Matt Dickinson
  • Torn David Massey
  • Mr Creecher Chris Priestly

RED 7 (2012-2013 award): An Act of Love by Alan Gibbons

Nominated:

  • My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece Annabel Pitcher
  • Gladiator Simon Scarrow
  • Blood Red Road Moira Young

RED 6 (2011-12 award): Wasted by Nicola Morgan

Nominated:

  • Ausländer Paul Dowswell
  • Koh Tabu Ann Kelley
  • Black Out Sam Mills
  • Timeriders Alex Scarrow

RED 5 (2010-11 award): Grass by Cathy MacPhail

Nominated:

  • Wolfcry Julia Golding
  • Colony J A Henderson
  • Chalkline Jane Mitchell
  • Deathwatch Nicola Morgan

RED 4 (2009-10 award): Divided City by Theresa Breslin

Nominated:

  • Don’t Tell Sandra Glover
  • Beast Ally Kennan
  • Forged in the Fire Ann Turnbull

RED 3 (2008-09 award): Worse Than Boys by Cathy MacPhail

Nominated:

  • Message from Mia Sandra Glover
  • Bunker 10 J A Henderson Fearless Tim Lott
  • Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea Michael Morpurgo

RED 2 (2007-08 award): Blood Ties by Sophie McKenzie

Nominated:

  • The Ice Cream Con Jimmy Docherty
  • Ostrich Boys Keith Gray
  • Strangled Silence Oisin McGann
  • Spider Linda Strachan

RED 1 (2006-07 award): Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy

Nominated:

  • The Star of Kazan Eva Ibbotson
  • Airborn Kenneth Oppel
  • Tamar Mal Peet
  • Montmorency Eleanor Updale

Read Write Count

Read, Write, Count is a new campaign to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of Scotland’s children by providing advice and support for the families of children in Primary 1, 2 and 3. It is a key part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to raise attainment for all and close the attainment gap.

Read, Write, Count aims to build on the success of the Play Talk Read and Bookbug programmes in the early years and encourage parents and families to include easy and fun reading, writing and counting activities in their everyday lives. For many years, Through the Read, Write, Count campaign, all P1 to P3 children will receive a free bag with books, counting games and writing materials in the autumn of this year.

Research tells us that parental involvement in children’s learning is one of the best ways to improve educational outcomes for all children. Read, Write, Count is about giving parents the confidence to get involved and provides resources to support learning at home.

http://scottishbooktrust.com/learning/read-write-count/

Contact Yvonne Manning, yvonne.manning@falkirk.gov.uk 01324 501990 for more information.

First Minister’s Reading Challenge


Scottish Book Trust, on behalf of the Scottish Government, is delivering an exciting new reading initiative for children in Primary 4 – 7.

Reading has the power to change lives, and developing a love of reading in childhood can have a huge impact on educational attainment and future wellbeing. The First Minister wants to make sure every child in Scotland has an equal opportunity to experience the huge benefits that reading for pleasure brings.

The First Minister’s Reading Challenge aims to build on the work already taking place in schools across the country to encourage children to read widely, explore a range of books and develop a love of reading. The main focus of the Challenge is to encourage reading for pleasure and support schools, libraries and communities to build reading cultures.

Children in P4-P7 in every school in Scotland are invited to take part in the Challenge. Once schools have registered, they can order Reading Passports that pupils can use to log their reading journeys. They can also register classes to take part in the challenges and find book suggestions, learning resources and ideas to encourage young people to develop a love of reading.

There will be a range of prizes awarded in June 2017 for schools and pupils to celebrate their reading journeys. The Challenge will also give the opportunity for every child’s personal achievements to be recognised by their teachers and librarians.

https://www.readingchallenge.scot/

Book Week Scotland


Book Week Scotland is a week-long celebration of books and reading that takes place every November.

During Book Week, people of all ages and walks of life will come together in libraries, schools, community venues and workplaces to share and enjoy books and reading. They will be joined in this celebration by Scotland’s authors, poets, playwrights, storytellers and illustrators to bring a packed programme of events and projects to life.

Scottish Book Trust are now accepting applications for Book Week Scotland event funding! The deadline for applications is Friday 2 June,5pm.

http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/reading/book-week-scotland/about

National Improvement Hub

NIHLogo

The purpose of the National Improvement Hub is to provide information and support which will enable practitioners to improve their practice quickly and increase the quality of learners’ experiences and outcomes. The National Improvement Hub will provide practitioners with access to: self-evaluation and improvement tools, knowledge/research, teaching and assessment resources, exemplars of practice and support for on-line collaboration and networks.