At The Academy of St Francis of Assisi, we ensure all subject areas understand the importance of literacy and contribute to its successful teaching. Of course, there are students who arrive at the school below the expected level of literacy, so we work to establish the causes of this and identify strategies of intervention as quickly as possible. Where appropriate, we intervene with these students to ensure they are fully supported and make sufficient progress to enable them to access the curriculum.

We believe that students should be actively engaged in developing their literacy skills at every stage of their development. To that end we have developed a number of initiatives to foster independence and a love of reading and literature. These include:
• Form time intervention: Students are challenged to engage with a variety of texts. They read independently and with guidance from their English teachers and school librarian. Additionally students are given key point assessments to monitor progress.

• DEAR (Drop Everything And Read): Students in Yr7 and 8 have dedicated reading time twice a week in their English lessons. We encourage students to bring in a text of their choice whilst also providing a wide variety of material from our newly improved library.

• Accelerated Reader: All Key Stage 3 students are enrolled on to the AR programme which monitors the progress students make in reading.

• Word of the week: Every week across the academy, a new word is promoted to enrich vocabulary and spelling. CLICK HERE to download a word document

Week commencing Monday: Word:
10th Sept 2018 Anthrop-
17th Sept 2018 Auto-
24th Sept 2018 Bio-
1st Oct 2018 Chron-
8th Oct 2018 Dyna-
15th Oct 2018 Dys-
29th Oct 2018 Gram-
5th Nov 2018 Appalling
12th Nov 2018 Predicament
19th Nov 2018 Fervent
26th Nov 2018 Fatigue
3rd Dec 2018 Spontaneous
10th Dec 2018 Pundit
17th Dec 2018 Pandemonium
7th Jan 2019 Gregarious
14th Jan 2019 Ambivalent
21st Jan 2019 Jovial
28th Jan 2019 Penultimate
4th Feb 2019 Surreptitious
11th Feb 2019 Astute
25th Feb 2019 Fickle
4th March 2019 Tenacious
11th March 2019 Abhor
18th March 2019 Impeccable
25th March 2019 Ubiquitous
1st April 2019 Innate
22nd April 2019 Vociferous
29th April 2019 Sartorial
6th May 2019 Obsequious
13th May 2019 Procrastinate
20th May 2019 Avarice
3rd June 2019 Loquacious
10th June 2019 Ravenous
17th June 2019 Benevolent
24th June 2019 Nonchalant
1st July 2019 Abundance
8th July 2019 Exuberant
15th July 2019 Amiable

• Banned words/common errors: On a fortnightly basis, we target common error such as the incorrect spelling of ‘separate’. Grammatical errors and slang expressions are also challenged, for example using ‘done/did’ or ‘seen/saw’ incorrectly. CLICK HERE to download a word document

Common Errors/Banned Words

Fortnightly Focus
    1. You / use/ ‘youse’ Non-standard grammar / dialect word
    2. Of/have Non/standard grammar
    3. Separate Often spelt incorrectly
    4. Done/did Non/standard grammar
    5. To/too/two Commonly confused homophones
    6. Seen/saw Non/standard grammar
    7. Its/it’s Commonly confused homophones
    8. ‘Alot’ / ‘abit’ / ‘aswell’ Incorrect spelling
    9. Teach/learn Non/standard grammar
 10. There/their/they’re Commonly confused homophones
 11. Borrow/lend Non/standard grammar
 12. Lose/loose Often confused
 13. Stationary/stationery Commonly confused homophones
 14. Wrote/written Non/standard grammar
 15. Wonder/wander Often confused
 16. Where/were/wear/we’re Commonly confused homophones
 17. Beginning Often spelt incorrectly
 18. ‘Gonna’ Non/standard grammar/slang

• Literacy intervention: We have in place several strategies to support students in need of literacy support details of which can be found in the ‘Catch-Up’ document on the website.

Reading and Writing Quality Marks
In June 2016, students and staff were proud to achieve The Liverpool Reading Quality Mark. This award celebrates the commitment and enjoyment of reading around the academy. Building on this success, we are currently taking part in the writing quality mark pilot across the city which celebrates the rich range of writing opportunities taking place across the curriculum.

Literacy Support

Some of the initiatives and programmes we have in place to develop literacy are:

  • Form time reading activities
  • Reading buddies programme
  • Literacy intervention classes
  • Reading enrichment programme
  • Outside support for students
  • Dedicated English Teaching Assistants
  • Key primary transition sessions

Suggested Reading List

  1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  2. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
  3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  4. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
  5. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  6. Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
  7. Matilda by Roald Dahl
  8. Forever by Judy Blume
  9. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 and ¾ by Sue Townsend
  10. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyle
  11. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
  12. Me Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
  13. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
  14. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  15. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
  16. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
  17. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime by Mark Haddon
  18. Flush by Carl Hiaasen
  19. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  20. Holes by Louis Sachar