National Literacy Strategy Early Literacy Support (ELS) HEADTEACHER BRIEFING

ELS in Year 1 The programme aims to put a second wave of support in place during Y1  Y1 term 1 - Quality First Teaching  Y1 term 2 – 1 st Group intervention  Y1 term 3 – Individual support for identified children 2 nd Group intervention (when necessary)

ELS: key principles Early intervention is the key to ensuring long-term literacy success and the prevention of failure Intervention must operate in a context of Quality First Teaching

ELS: design guidelines Intervention is based on an assessment of critical literacy objectives Additional ‘lessons’ are delivered as well as, not instead of, the literacy hour Aim of intervention is to generate accelerated learning back to the appropriate NLS Framework for teaching objectives

ELS: design guidelines cont. Focus of teaching is to ensure word level objectives are in place Intervention is time limited Intervention is delivered in small groups Children follow a structured programme A follow up safety net is in place

Shape of the intervention During the first term of Y1 all children will receive Quality First Teaching At the end of term 1 priority children will be screened to monitor progress against the NLS Framework for teaching objectives The most at risk children will be identified for inclusion in the intervention

Shape of the intervention cont. During the second term of Year 1 a group of up to 6 identified children will receive 60 additional literacy sessions The additional sessions will be delivered by the TA outside the Literacy Hour

The screening process The screening is designed to identify children who are ‘not on track’ and may be ‘at risk’ The screening is designed to complement existing assessment processes The screening includes speaking and listening, reading, writing and word level knowledge The screening is delivered within the structure of the Literacy Hour

The additional literacy lessons Each lesson will be carefully structured and over each week will include: reading, writing, word level and speaking and listening tasks Each session will support teaching towards a key NLS Framework for teaching objective

Training and support 3 days of central training on Quality First Teaching (QFT), screening and selection materials and intervention sessions School-based release for Y1 teacher and TA Website support for all schools

Structure of the training Day 1 - Quality First Teaching Pre-course tasks (½ day in school for Y1 teacher and TA): revisiting PiPs, introduction to ELS programme and review of current practice Training day – Y1, Reception teachers and TA Introduction to intervention, shared writing, guided reading and role of the TA Post-course tasks (½ day in school for Y1 teacher and TA) Planning and delivering shared writing and guided reading

Next steps checklist Brief staff and Governors Locate budget from Standards Fund for school-based training and resources Establish ELS implementation team – may include member of SMT, SENCO, Y1 teacher and TA Recruit TA Identify class teachers and target class Revise Literacy Action Plan to include ELS Plan for partnership with parents and carers Cover arrangements for teachers and TA to attend training Incorporate ELS into schools’ monitoring and evaluation framework

Further information