Russell T Davies | WorldClass Education Blog

Disturbing statistics about low levels of Literacy aren’t new. Educators – whether policymakers or practitioners – are only too aware of the scale of the problem. All are eager to address the issue that continues to blight our society and hampers the life chances of young people. Here’s some recent findings from Estyn – the Wales School Inspection Service.

Critically, they’re now reporting 40% of students arriving at secondary school with reading ages below their actual ages. We’re currently providing support through our Strong Language GCSE English Intervention Programme for a school in the North West where the Head of English suggests the proportion of such students is actually about two thirds! In England, as part of a strategic attempt to reverse this particular tide, the new Ofsted Framework for Inspection is now operating, and as we’ve flagged up several times before, it’s got a specific focus on the teaching of Literacy in secondary schools. As a key indicator of the seriousness with which the inspection of Literacy is being taken, new distance learning materials for Inspectors have been made available on the Ofsted website. And although written with Inspectors in mind, they’re available for the rest of us too! The one to look for is entitled;

Reading, writing and communication (literacy)

The provision of these materials for Inspectors is quite revealing. We don’t believe for one minute that it implies Inspectors don’t know how to inspect, but instead may need some guidance on what to inspect when it comes to Literacy. What are the features of effective Literacy practice in the secondary context? To answer this question, they could do worse than turning to a doctor. Doctor Who to be precise.

It almost goes without saying that this is one of the BBC’s most popular programmes, due in no small part to it’s impressive production values and the consistently high standard of scripts conceived and written during it’s renaissance by the writers, Russell T Davies and Stephen Moffat. Consistency of practice across the curriculum is certainly one of the keys to delivering high standards for students too. Dr Who is also successful because of highly imaginative plots that engage it’s viewers both young and old. The BBC is now capitalising on that ability to engage through creativity and fun with a second script writing competition for Primary School pupils;

Doctor Who Script to Screen Competition

We recognise the need for rigour and high standards, but we also believe that the Literacy experience for secondary school students should be a powerfully creative one, delivered by confident teachers all across the curriculum. And like Dr Who, Whole School Literacy shouldn’t take itself too seriously and instead should make room for a little fun for students.