At Victoria Primary School, we believe that pupils’ literacy skills, i.e. their ability to talk, listen, write and read effectively, for audience and purpose, is the key to educational progress, to social integration and to personal development and happiness.

Statutory requirements for the teaching and learning of Literacy are laid out in the Northern Ireland Curriculum for English (CCEA, 2007).

In Victoria Primary School, children in the Foundation Stage are given opportunities to:

· talk and listen and represent ideas in their activities;

· use communication, language and literacy in every part of the curriculum;

· become immersed in an environment rich in print and possibilities for

communication.

At Key Stage One (Years 3 and 4), children are encouraged to speak confidently and listen to what others have to say and to read and write independently and with enthusiasm. They are encouraged to use language to explore their own experiences and imaginary worlds.

At Key Stage Two (Years 5-7), children are encouraged to learn to change the way they talk and write to suit different situations, purposes and audiences. They have opportunities to read a range of texts and respond to different layers of meaning in them and to explore the use of language in literary and non-literary texts and learn how the structure of language works.

Accelerated Readers

What is Accelerated Reader?

Accelerated Reader (AR) is a whole class management and monitoring programme that aims to foster independent reading in primary and secondary school pupils. This well-regarded reading practice software is popular in schools across the UK and around the world. Developed by Renaissance Learning, it allows teachers to monitor the reading development and practices of their pupils and provides tools to quickly ascertain their reading level, reading age and comprehension level.