Literacy and communication skills are key building blocks for life.

If someone lacks vital communication skills it can hold a person back at every stage of their life. As a child, they will not be able to succeed at school, as a young adult they will be locked out of the job market, and as a parent they won’t be able to support their own child’s learning. This intergenerational cycle makes social mobility and a fairer society more difficult.

At Ansford we commit to promote through every subject lesson and interaction:

Reading, writing and oracy:

To be literate is to be able to read, comprehend and react to ideas in texts and language. It means being able to use language to communicate both in spoken and written forms. Communication is an intrinsic life skill. 

Non-verbal communication:

To be literate is to be able to read and communicate in a variety of different kinds of languages and texts – visual as well as verbal. 

Literacy as participation:

Messages, ideas, feelings and identity are all facilitated through language and texts of all kinds. To be literate is to be able to take control of these forms in order to participate as a member of society.

One of the key tools used is Bedrock Learning, an App designed to promote and develop literacy and communication. This is accessed by Key Stage 3 students and has been show to improve motivation to develop these skills.