Aims of the day: 1. To reflect on the language and literacy demands of each subject in light of national reforms at KS4 and KS5 2. To explore and experiment with practical strategies to improve academic literacy 3. To recognise commonalities in literacy and to embrace subject specific requirements 4. To continue to develop the skills of subject scholars and the Mulberry Graduate

TimingsEvent Setting the context: National reforms: what it means for Mulberry Academic Literacy – the core principles of Fetch Me a Pen Subject scholars: writing like an expert in your field Base Teams Explained Workshop Break Workshop Base team discussion and reflections Next steps Lunch Faculty/Department curriculum development time

 More demanding and fulfilling subject content than now  Provide better progression to KS5 or employment  Accessible, with good teaching, to the same proportion of students as currently sit GCSEs  More rigorous assessment  Terminal assessments  Mainly untiered  Exams as the default method of assessment  Exams only in the summer apart from English language and maths, where there will also be exams in November for students who were at least 16 on the preceding 31st August.  1-9 grading – pass rate will be set higher “there must be an increase in demand at the level of what is widely considered to be a pass to reflect that of high-performing jurisdictions” (Ofqual March 2014)

2015 (current Yr10) 2016 (current Yr9)2017 (current Yr8) English Language: 100% terminal exam Untiered 20% SPaG Speaking skills awarded separately English Literature: 100% terminal exam Untiered 5% SPaG Maths: 100% terminal exam Tiered (H: 4-9; F:1-5) 0% SPaG Subject Tiered Non-exam assessment Art and design No100% Biology YesNone 3 3 Chemistry YesNone 3 3 Citizenship studies NoNone 4 4 Combined science YesNone Computer science No20% Dance No60% 5 5 Drama No60% 6 6 Food preparation and nutrition No50% French Yes25% Geography No 1 1 None 3 3 History NoNone 3 3 Music No60% 7 7 Physical education No40% 4 4 Physics YesNone 3 3 Religious studies NoNone Spanish Yes25% Subject Propos ed tiering Proposed non-exam assessment Business Not tiered None 3 3 Design and technology Not tiered 50% 4 4 Economics Not tiered None Film studies Not tiered 30% 8 8 Media studies Not tiered 30% 4 4 Psychology Not tiered None Sociology Not tiered None StatisticsTieredNone 3 3

 A levels will assess knowledge, skills and understanding needed by students planning to progress to undergraduate study  AS and A levels will be internationally comparable  More synoptic and develop deeper understanding  In most cases, HEI representatives have contributed to subject content  More rigorous assessment  Terminal assessments  Exams as the default method of assessment; however amount of non-examined assessment will vary. At AS and A level there seems to be more recognition of the validity of other forms of assessment  Exams only in the summer  AS and A level decoupled

2015 (current Yr12) 2016 (current Yr11)2017 (current Yr9) English Language English Literature Physics Chemistry Biology History Psychology Art and design Sociology Business Economics Computing Geography Dance Maths Further Maths MFL Music PE ??? Subjects in red indicate GCSE and AS/A level reform happening in same year

What will be key learning milestones for KS3 and KS4? How will you know pupils are making progress? What will internal assessment need to look like? Yr7 Yr8 Yr9 Yr10 Yr11 Yr13 Yr12 Graduate! A year ago we discussed …. The importance of PLCs

What are the challenges and opportunities presented by: 1. Terminal assessments 2. Exams as the preferred method of assessment 3. Untiered assessments 4. More demanding and fulfilling subject content 5. More demanding literacy requirements How will we need to tweak classroom practice? A year ago we discussed …. Accessible, with good teaching, to the same proportion of students as currently sit GCSEs

 Students write the same way they speak  Students need to be critically engaged when writing an argument  Students need to be able to articulate much more complex subject knowledge in exam conditions  Students struggle to understand and interpret complex questions  Formulaic writing for exams will no longer work  Teachers are not confident to teach writing and grammar  Contextualised questions with unfamiliar contexts unnerve students A year ago you said….

Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 Year 13 c c Beyond Mulberry Academic literacy serves two functions: 1.A form of communication (assessment) 2. It is a learning tool: if you are able to articulate your learning in writing, you are consolidating and deepening your understanding With time, confidence and the opportunity to experiment, all pupils can learn to develop subject- specific academic literacy We need to develop our own skills-set and confidence to do this!

Rothery’s teaching and learning cycle Based on M.A.K. Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics

Base teams – the learning model for the day Base team Evenly distribute attendance at workshops (x2) Share learning Discuss next steps

Select an appropriate milestone: Review and revise your current curriculum plan/scheme of learning: 1. What type of writer does a Mulberry student need to be by the end of this milestone in order to be a successful Mulberry Graduate/subject scholar? 2. What is the current reality for Mulberry students in your subject 3. Audit your curriculum plan and schemes of learning to identify opportunities to build in and experiment with strategies you have explored today

 one-off lessons do not work. Academic literacy has to be integrated and developed over time. There are no quick fixes!  Academic literacy has two functions:  It is a means to an end (assessment)  It is a learning tool: if you are able to articulate your learning in writing, you are consolidating your understanding “Fetch Me a Pen, I need to think” (attributed to Voltaire) “Develop deep knowledge and understanding … time to embed … progressively and constantly demand more” (Outstanding quality of teaching descriptor: Ofsted Sept 2015)

Thinking about structure – E09 Moving from talk to writing – E01 Formality and Register – E02 The Language of Analysis – E03 Genres of writing – E05 Reading strategies: deciphering texts E04