With under a fortnight until the end of term, keep the creative juices flowing to the end of term with the Scottish Book Trust’s ’50 Word Fiction’

This month’s ’50 Word Fiction’ from the Scottish Book Trust is fifty word fantasy. This month you’re asked to ‘Write a story set in an enchanted wood.’

The deadline is Tuesday 27th June 2017. The Young Writers category is open to all children and young people under 18.

CLICK HERE – 50 Word Fiction (Enchanted Wood)

With under two weeks to go until schools break for summer, is your primary school promoting the Summer Reading Challenge?

The Summer Reading Challenge encourages children to read six books over the summer holidays, linking children up with their local libraries.

CLICK HERE – Summer Reading Challenge Website

This year’s theme is ‘Animal Agents’, Share information with your children and their families using the following video:

How do your children get involved?

• Encourage your pupils to head to their local library to find out more information
• CLICK HERE – SRC Informaiton For Schools
• CLICK HERE – SRC Information for Families

Thank you to Seonaid Cooke from Marybank Primary School who has kindly shared this resource.

Here’s a great resource to support the teaching of rhyme and rime. There are a selection of nursery rhymes. Each nursery rhyme comes with suggested vocabulary with the same rime and example lesson plans.

CLICK HERE – Rimes and Rhymes

Following the draft Literacy and English Benchmarks published in August 2016, the final Benchmarks (following the consultation period) were published last week by Education Scotland.

Education Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence the CfE Statement for Practitioners
(Aug 2016) stated that the two key resources which support practitioners to plan learning, teaching and assessment are:
 Experiences and Outcomes
 Benchmarks.

Benchmarks have been developed to provide clarity on the national standards expected within each curriculum area at each level. They set out clear lines of progression in Literacy and English. Their purpose is to make clear what learners need to know, and be able to do to progress through the levels, and to support consistency in teachers’ and other practitioners’ professional judgements.

CLICK HERE – Education Scotland Benchmarks (June 2017)

Benchmarks are designed to be concise and accessible, with sufficient detail to communicate clearly the standards expected for each curriculum level.

The guidance from Education Scotland on using the Benchmarks:

Do any of your children in P4 – P7 read the ‘Spynosaur‘ series? If so, here’s an Authors Live event work watching this week. On Thursday 15th June 2017, 11am – 11.40am, the Scottish Book Trust have partnered up with BBC Scotland to bring you children’s author Guy Bass.

Taking a developmental to Emerging Literacy aims to support education practitioners to match the teaching and learning of early literacy, language and communication experiences to the needs of each child. Through collaborative partnerships between education, Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) and Educational Psychologists, educational practitioners across the Northern Alliance have been embedding Highland’s approach to Emerging Literacy across the north of Scotland. This video reflects on the impact of professionals and the outcomes for children and young people across the Northern Alliance this academic session.

It is great to hear many of the reflections from our recent local Emerging Literacy networks across Highland have been reiterated within this short video. Further details of the impact on practitioners and the outcomes for children through taking a developmental approach to Emerging Literacy will be detailed in the Northern Alliance report which will be published at the beginning of July.

What training is available to apply for on the Highland CPD Calendar?

Whole Day Emerging Literacy Training – this training will take place in term 4 of 2016/2017, term 1 of 2017/ 2018 and term 4 of 2017/2018. It is targeted to P1 Teachers, SMT, ASN Teachers, Educational Psychologists and Allied Health Professionals (AHPs). This training provides an introduction to the theory and rationale, the assessment tools and the support materials available in taking a developmental approach. The following dates are available to apply for through the CPD Calendar.

Emerging Literacy Networks – the Emerging Literacy networks have proven to be a supportive mechanism for practitioners during the 2016/2017 session in supporting practitioners to take a developmental approach through five twilight sessions during the academic session. These will continue during the 2017/2018 session in ten locations across the Local Authority. There will be separate support available for schools who are beginning their Emerging Literacy journey (Year 1 schools) to those who are continuing their Emerging Literacy journey (Year 2+ schools). For a whole-school approach to Emerging Literacy to be effective, we have seen the greatest impact when P1 Class Teachers and a member of SMT attend together. A whole-school approach will ensure that all children and young people who can benefit from taking a developmental approach make appropriate progress. Local Networks provide the opportunity for school practitioners to work with support services, Educational Psychologists and Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) in a universal way. The following dates are available to apply for through the CPD Calendar. When applying you will be signed up to the five sessions within your local network. Venues to be confirmed.

Research shows that phonics is effective for the teaching and learning of reading and writing. The Northern Alliance Principles of Effective Phonics Teaching have been designed to support practitioners and schools to plan for developmentally appropriate teaching and learning of phonics.

CLICK HERE – Principles of Effective Phonics Teaching

The principles share the key messages of effective phonics teaching and learning, built on solid foundational reading and writing skills through taking a developmental approach to Emerging Literacy.

The challenge questions have been created to support practitioners and schools in auditing their current approaches to phonics teaching, allowing them to reflect and plan for next steps. An audit tool has been created which practitioners and schools may find useful.

CLICK HERE – Phonics Principles – AUDIT

The Scottish Book Trust have a bank of great learning resources to support literacy development in Early Learning and Childcare (ELCC) settings and schools.

CLICK HERE – Scottish Book Trust Learning Resources

Some new resources which are worth checking out . . . 

Creating Comics, inspired by ‘Evil Emperor Penguin’
Get creating comics with Laura Ellen Anderson’s ‘Evil Emperor Penguin’ inspired learning resource. This is a great resource which develops characterisation and emotive language.

CLICK HERE – Comic Creation ‘Evil Emperor Penguin’

Writing About Food
This learning resource has been designed to support the development of food education through the Nourish campaign. This could be developed as an interdisciplinary context through health and wellbeing and literacy.

CLICK HERE – Writing About Food

Nick Sharratt: Using rhyme to create plotlines
Author of ‘Shark in the Park’, Nick Sharratt, has provided his top tips in using rhyme to develop plotlines. You can watch the video below and access links to other resources which Nick has developed.

CLICK HERE – Nick Sharratt: Using Rhyme to Create Plotlines

If you missed it, CLICK HERE for the April 2017 Emerging Literacy Update

Please find below the May 2017 update from the Highland Emerging Literacy Group. This update outlines the recommendations for transition from P1 to P2 for schools who have taken a developmental approach to Emerging Literacy and Highland’s support arrangements for the 2017/ 2018 session.

CLICK HERE to download the May 2017 Emerging Literacy update.

Following our previous post on High Life Highland: Adult Literacies check out the Skills Workshop – Literacy site.

As part of Family Learning, Quality Indicator 2.5 within How Good Is Our School (4th Edition), schools are expected to actively promote lifelong learning, both in families, and as individual learners. In addition to this, through Pupil Equity Funding (PEF), schools may be looking to further develop their approaches to family learning in order to interrupt the poverty related gap.

CLICK HERE – Adult Learning: High Life Highland

The Skills Workshop – Literacy site includes a number of resources to support Adult Literacies learning, supporting families in further developing their own literacy skills.

CLICK HERE – Skills Workshop: Literacy