Literacy

We believe Literacy is the core of our teaching and learning strategies. At Ursuline College, we are supporting the development of our students’ love of reading, writing and discussion. If our students are confident, competent readers they will have the tools they need to succeed across all subjects, providing them with the skills they need to thrive in later life. We believe that a secure basis in literacy skills is crucial to a high-quality education, to empowering students, improving their self-esteem, impacting positively on mental well-being and behaviour and promoting higher levels of attainment. 

Our priority focus for this year is to develop a culture of reading for pleasure through our Tutor Time Reading Programme with year 7 and extracurricular activities. Through our carefully curated collection of texts, students will be exposed to a wide range of genres, ideas and concepts both in tutor time and across the curriculum. Alongside our efforts to provide meaningful reading opportunities in the school day, we also ensure that literacy is an integral part of every lesson with teachers recognising their role in developing reading, writing, speaking and listening in their subject discipline. 

  Disciplinary literacy – Developing reading in all subjects

Disciplinary literacy is the unique way of reading, writing, speaking and listening in every subject. In order to be able to confidently ‘read like a Geographer’ or ‘speak like a Historian’, students need to be inducted into the nuanced ways of subject specialists. Moving forward, students will be exposed to challenging, academic texts within each subject discipline that not only develop their subject knowledge but help them to become more able readers in that subject area. 

At our secondary school, we are actively supporting disciplinary literacy by helping students develop the specific reading, writing, and vocabulary skills needed for success in each subject. Teachers model how to approach subject-specific texts, such as scientific reports, historical sources, or mathematical problems, and explicitly teach the language and structures unique to their disciplines. Through strategies like guided reading, structured writing frames, and targeted vocabulary instruction, students learn to think, read, and write like subject specialists. This approach ensures literacy is not seen as just an English lesson skill, but as essential to learning across the entire curriculum. 

  Targeted vocabulary instruction in every subject

At the start of lessons, students will be exposed to ‘VV Words’ - Valuable Vocabulary which are a combination of Tier 3 (subject specific words) and Tier 2 words (ambitious everyday words) that are needed for students to access the curriculum. Using a repetitive and consistent teaching pattern, students are able to learn and use these words in their work and home learning. These words are chosen by subject leads, tailored to the termly focus curriculum. At the end of a term, students will be tested on newly learned vocabulary to ensure these words are embedded into their long-term memory. 

  Tutor time (Reading, Spelling & Oracy)

Oracy: Once a week, students across all key stages are given a debate topic to practise key oracy skills with their form time tutor. Attached to a statement, chosen based on societal relevance, are a range of questions and a bank of challenging vocabulary all aimed to get the students thinking, discussing and verbalising their thoughts. This is a key oracy skill, and by encouraging students to formulate ideas on varied topics, they are building towards more confident, knowledgeable arguments.  

Reading: In year 7, every tutor group takes part in whole-class reading of a carefully selected text. Through discussion, prediction, vocabulary exploration and questioning, students are encouraged to think critically about what they read and to share their ideas with others. This daily reading time helps to foster a love of books, broaden students' cultural knowledge and ensure that reading remains at the heart of school life. 

Spelling: At KS4, students complete regular spelling and vocabulary activities designed to strengthen literacy skills and support success across the curriculum. An extensive vocabulary is essential for understanding exam questions, analysing complex texts and expressing ideas clearly in both written and spoken responses. Each week, students focus on subject-specific terminology, ambitious vocabulary and commonly misspelt words, helping them to communicate with greater precision and confidence.  

Recommended reading list, library & Book Clubs

As a parent/carer, we know that you will want to support our efforts to develop your child’s reading for pleasure at home. As such, we’ve created a recommended reading list that you are invited to look through. Perhaps you’d like to buy two copies of a text and read along with your child! 

We have a library situated in the ground floor English rooms, where you child is free to borrow any text of their choosing!   

We also run a successful Book Club for pupils of all ages to come together and read collectively, discuss plot and engage with pupils from across the school.  

’16 for 16’ schoolwide reading challenge

As part of our continued drive towards creating a reading for pleasure culture at Ursuline College, we are taking part in a reading programme that is also being used in grammar and comprehensive schools over the Uk. ’16 for 16’ aims to challenge the students by introducing texts and genres of book that they may not have been exposed to. The choice of texts in the programme also helps introduce key themes and big ideas that they will be learning about for their GCSE years.  

Students collect a ’16 for 16’ booklet or can adapt and download the digital version attached on this page. They simply choose their first book from the list and get reading! Parents can get involved too by monitoring their progress with the start and finish date. Parents then sign to show they have fully completed the text.  

Once the students have completed a text, they write a short book review and submit it to their form tutor or Miss R Love, which is then entered into a competition for a prize! Once they have completed 16 of these, they are given a prize for competing the programme. We aim to not only enable students to immerse themselves in new texts but reading for only 20 minutes a day have been proven to have a transformative impact on your child’s academic ability alongside boosting their well-being. 

Year 7 Reading Challenge

In order to introduce some key themes and reading texts that Year 7 pupils will encounter over throughout their educational journey at Ursuline, all Year 7 students are invited to take part in our Term 1 Reading Challenge. This is designed to encourage a love of reading and help develop confidence, vocabulary and comprehension skills. Students will earn rewards for reading a range of books from the selection. We look forward to celebrating their achievements and inspiring every student to discover new authors, genres and the enjoyment that reading can bring.