Year 7 Literacy and Numeracy

In Year 7 we use Key Stage 2 SATS, CATS and internal benchmark tests to benchmark students ability in literacy and numeracy, diagnose gaps in knowledge and understanding and put in place intervention both in class and through intervention programmes. These are co-ordinated by our inclusion manager to support learners to ensure they can fully access the curriculum.

This may include the following:

• In class support by the teacher
• Additional tailored SPARX or Educake homework tasks
• Reading intervention
• Spelling/Phonics Intervention
• Miskin – Freshstart introduced Autumn 2022
• EAL (English as a foreign language) support through MEAS
• Numeracy intervention
• Literacy Intervention
• One-to-one teacher student support programmes

Literacy

Did you know?  

Literacy and communication skills have been highlighted by Britain’s businesses as being the main characteristic that promotes employability.  From initial application forms to boardroom success students today need strong literacy skills to help them gain success in their professional lives in the future.

At Pensby High School we know how important literacy skills are in helping our students develop proficiency in  reading, writing and speaking which help them achieve success in examinations and their future working lives.

This is why Pensby promote literacy at the heart of everything we do.  Our on-line literacy area offers pupils and parents advice on key areas of literacy where pupils continue to struggle at Key Stage 3 or 4. We have split our page into 3 areas.

• Word Building
• Punctuation
• Grammar

Reading: Pupils have an entitlement to read whole books and whole texts; this occurs in all years. They read a variety of modern fiction, nineteenth century fiction, plays (including Shakespeare), short stories from across time and poetry from old English to modern, alongside a diverse range of non-fiction texts from differing time periods. They are also encouraged to read a wide variety of challenging fiction and non-fiction texts independently to develop their ability to read independently and for pleasure.

How to use our online resources

1. Browse at your own leisure. Whether you are trying to keep up your skills over a holiday or want to have a quick literacy quiz around the dinner table you will find a range of tasks to help.
2. Practice your online Educake homework weekly.

Numeracy

Did you know?  

A DfE study from 2021 showed that improving your Maths GCSE by just one grade would mean an increase of £14,579 in lifetime earnings, based on present values. Other research shows that people with poor numeracy skills are more than twice as likely to face unemployment. Research from Pro Bono Economics estimates poor numeracy skills cost the economy £20.2 billion every year.

The digital age presents us with more numerical data than ever before and puts a new premium on numeracy skills. Computers can do the maths for us, but we need good numeracy in order to use them effectively:  to enter the right data and decide whether the answer seems about right.

Right now, around 90% of new graduate jobs require a high level of digital skills (Race Online 2012 ), and digital skills are built on numeracy. www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/what-numeracy/why-numeracy-importantAt Pensby High School we realise how important it is to provide our students with good numeracy skills. Not just so they can obtain good jobs, but also, so that they can make sense of the world around them, analyse the mathematical information they receive and make well-informed decisions.