Literacy and English – Curriculum, Learning, Teaching and Assessment

Language and literacy are of personal, social and economic importance. Our ability to use language lies at the centre of the development and expression of our emotions, our thinking, our learning and our sense of personal identity. Language is itself a key aspect of our culture. Through language, children and young people can gain access to the literary heritage of humanity and develop their appreciation of the richness and breadth of Scotland’s literary heritage. Children and young people encounter, enjoy and learn from the diversity of language used in their homes, their communities, by the media and by their peers.

Literacy is fundamental to all areas of learning, as it unlocks access to the wider curriculum. Being literate increases opportunities for the individual in all aspects of life, lays the foundations for lifelong learning and work, and contributes strongly to the development of all four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence.

Curriculum Support and Professional Learning

Are you intending to focus on the curriculum area of literacy and English as part of a forthcoming improvement priority? If so, Education Scotland can help by offering professional dialogue on how best to ensure your planned CLPL meets its desired outcomes. Support on a range of aspects of literacy and English is available (such as the examples given below). Professional dialogue can also be based around the resources listed here. To discuss your requirements please contact: LitandEng@educationscotland.gov.scot

Literacy and English Professional Learning and Support – some examples:

Area of Focus	Possible Content
Learning and Teaching: Closing the poverty-related gap through Listening & Talking	To consider the connection between Listening and Talking within the context of current national priorities, pedagogical approaches to learning to talk and through talk and/or the assessment of Listening and Talking across learning.
Learning and Teaching: Teaching reading comprehension	To explore the key strategies learners deploy in order to access a text for meaning and how the application of these skills can help support improvements in literacy across learning.
Learning and Teaching: Early reading	To consider approaches to early reading instruction by building a literacy rich environment for reading, exploring the main components of reading and/or universal and targeted approaches to the development of learners’ reading skills.
Learning and Teaching: Reading for pleasure	To consider strategic approaches to the development and implementation of a sustained whole school reading culture and how this can have a positive impact on learners’ progress and attainment.
Learning and Teaching: The writing process	To explore each discrete stage of the writing process and offer advice on how to adopt a more inclusive pedagogy when teaching writing in the BGE; to consider the holistic relationship between Writing and the other curriculum organisers of Listening and Talking and Reading.
Learning and Teaching: Differentiation in literacy	To discuss the differentiation of learning in Listening and Talking, Reading and Writing and share practical approaches and strategies when planning for differentiation.
Assessment and Moderation: The Learning, Teaching and Assessment Cycle in the context of literacy	To consider the assessment and moderation of literacy in the round or through the lens of a specific curriculum organiser (i.e. Listening and Talking; Reading; Writing); to examine what makes an effective high quality assessment in literacy; to discuss the planning of learning experiences using experiences and outcomes from literacy and other curriculum areas.
Leadership of Learning: Literacy across learning	To explore how best to plan learning experiences that develop literacy skills across learning, for example through a focus on disciplinary literacy as a means of explicitly highlighting subject specific literacy skills in order to raise attainment.

Networks

Curriculum Area	Network	Contact/Further details
Literacy and English	Literacy & English National Literacy and English Curriculum Network (LECN)	Literacy and English Curriculum Network (LECN) Registration Form (office.com)


Literacy and English	Secondary English Teacher Network	This national network is based on Glow Teams and requires a Glow Login. Once logged into Glow, use the code wocxn0m to join.

Resources

   Click here for Education Scotland’s professional learning resource on Learning to read in the early years   

Resource	Contact/ link	Details
Literacy and English Professional Learning Community (PLC)	https://glowscotland.sharepoint.com/sites/literacyplc	Provides: • Policy documents • National Qualifications support • Links to a wide range of learning, teaching and assessment resources • Professional learning and current research.
National School Libraries Professional Learning Community (PLC)	National School Libraries PLC – Home (sharepoint.com)	Provides: • Information on National Programmes • Digital learning and resources • Links to relevant research • Links to key organisations and partnership working opportunities.
Education Scotland Literacy and English YouTube Playlist	Literacy – YouTube	Webinar recordings on aspects of literacy such as reading comprehension, reading for pleasure and digital learning and teaching.
Writing in the BGE	The Writing Process Writing Pedagogy in the BGE – YouTube	Bitesized breakdown of the Education Scotland webinar on the writing process.
Closing the gap through listening and talking	Listening and Talking – YouTube	Bitesized breakdown of the Education Scotland webinar on listening and talking.
Education Scotland Listening and Talking Padlet	Closing the Gap through Listening and Talking (padlet.com)	Information and resources to support the planning, learning, teaching and assessment of listening and talking.
English NQ resources	English National Qualifications support on Glow PLC	A range of resources to support learning and teaching in English National Qualifications.
Literacy pedagogy and equity videos	Delivering equity and closing the poverty related attainment gap \| Learning resources \| National Improvement Hub (education.gov.scot)	Short videos on delivering equity and the poverty related gap. Includes videos on oral interventions, reading comprehension and the writing process.
Literacy and English Wakelet	Literacy and English – Wakelet	Links to a wide range of learning, teaching and assessment resources.
National Improvement Hub – Literacy Across Learning in Secondary Schools	Literacy across learning in secondary schools \| Learning resources \| National Improvement Hub (education.gov.scot)	Practical advice for practitioners in all curriculum areas on planning learning and teaching experiences to develop and extend young people’s literacy skills. Includes reflective questions to support self-evaluation and inform planning.
Supporting Literacy at Home – Parent Zone	Supporting literacy at home \| Learning at home \| Parent Zone (education.gov.scot)	Provides information for parents/carers to support learning at home.

Endorsed Professional Learning Programmes

The Developing and Sustaining Reading for Pleasure (Primary) course is a national online programme for primary teachers wishing to enhance their professional knowledge and practice of reading for pleasure pedagogies in order to support children to become frequent and regular readers. The course is run by Scottish Book Trust and is endorsed by Education Scotland.

The application page for session 2024/25 is now live on the SBT website and the Education Scotland Professional Learning page. The deadline for applications is the 31^st of May 2024.

Key Documents

Literacy and English: Principles and practice (education.gov.scot)

Literacy and English: Experiences and outcomes (education.gov.scot)

Literacy and Numeracy Benchmarks (Word version) (education.gov.scot)

3-18 Literacy and English Review (education.gov.scot)

MilestonesLiteracyEnglish Complex ASN.pdf

How good is our school library? | Self-evaluation | National Improvement Hub (education.gov.scot)

vibrant-libraries-thriving-schools.pdf (scottishlibraries.org)