Literacy

How can you use the three tiers of vocabulary to implement a literacy strategy and improve literacy for your students?

Ellie Ashton explores the importance of oracy, the benefits of good communication skills and strategies to improve oracy in your classroom.

Olivia Sumpter explores why the word gap at transition is crucial, and strategies for bridging the word gap to improve learners' literacy.

Introduction If your child’s first language isn’t English, you might be worried about how that will affect them at school. Children who speak EAL (English as an Additional Language) can struggle with the extra challenges that come with learning in another...

How can you develop a whole-school literacy strategy for your learners? Use our strategies to implement a vocabulary strategy that boosts attainment.

If you are teaching English in a bilingual or multilingual classroom , how to teach vocabulary is probably one of your biggest conundrums. While it may not be your primary focus each lesson, you will no doubt be aware that every lesson, learners will be...

Director of Education Olivia Sumpter discusses how Bedrock's vocabulary curriculum closes vocabulary gaps and improves literacy attainment.

Bedrock founder Aaron Leary’s key insights on improving literacy and transforming outcomes In my capacity as Bedrock founder (and former English teacher and literacy coordinator) I was invited to speak at The Cornerstone English Hub’s Inspirational Power of...

In a survey held by the NCTL, less than 50% of NQTs stated that they felt "well-prepared" to teach EAL learners. With over 1.5 million learners studying English as an Additional Language in the UK today (2022), this lack of preparation definitely needs...

We all know literacy is an important life skill that can affect the chances of success at school and beyond. However, contrary to popular opinion, it doesn’t just refer to reading and writing. Literacy also includes listening, speaking, and evaluating new...

The summer slump refers to the learning loss and academic regression that can occur during the extended vacation. Let’s explore five effective ways to combat this.

Cultural literacy is crucial to the UK National Curriculum, but what strategies can we use to teach cultural literacy in the classroom?

Improving literacy skills takes a consistent literacy strategy - Alex Randle delves into the research and importance of vocabulary instruction.

Books can encourage empathy, positive self-esteem and healthy relationships. Check out our list of inclusive books for primary learners.

Find 9 strategies for improving writing skills in primary school, writing prompts for KS1 and KS2 and the importance of vocabulary on writing ability.

What is the attainment gap, the research behind the attainment gap, and how vocabulary instruction can narrow word gaps and improve attainment.

5 key benefits of emotional literacy across the school Explicitly taught, emotional literacy – the ability to communicate one’s emotions and to understand the emotions of others – can have a radical impact on whole-school culture including: Wellbeing...

In the 1980s, some Italian neuroscientists at the University of Parma were running some tests on an area of some macaques’ brains. They discovered, quite by chance, that when the scientists reached for a peanut to give to the monkeys, the neurons in the...

The Language and Reading Acquisition (LARA) team from Royal Holloway University are currently undertaking research that aims to clarify the relationship between oral vocabulary and reading attainment in secondary schools. While much research has been conducted...

As we’re all aware, marking is a time-consuming task, but it can also be gratifying, as long as we’re sure it’s improving learners’ skills and achievements. Some skills, however, are harder to assess than others. Literacy skills, for instance, are a tricky one...

What is skill development? The term "skills" can be quite a vague one. Humans have created, learned and mastered a fair amount of skills over the last hundreds of thousands of years – an amount that will only continue to grow as we carry on experimenting and...

Literacy affects children’s ability to thrive across the whole curriculum and throughout their lives.

What is media literacy and why does it matter for your students? This blog explores the importance of teaching media literacy in every subject.

Find strategies for improving literacy in early years, both at home and in the classroom, helping to close the vocabulary gap and improve attainment.

A love of reading is a strong indicator of literacy outcomes, but how can parents encourage children to read? Find out 7 simple reading tips.

Despite a carefully planned lesson and a range of engaging reading strategies, your learners are still struggling to understand the text you’re reading together. Sometimes it will become clear that your choice of texts maybe wasn’t the best, but most of the...

Raise the profile of whole-school literacy Turning your school into a language-rich community has a direct impact on your students’ literacy and their success across the curriculum. Here, I share ideas for raising the profile of vocabulary in your school,...

Learn about roots and affixes, how suffixes, prefixes and affixes can help literacy, and the importance of morphology.

Why should we make knowledge visible? Making knowledge processes visible in your classroom is helpful to many aspects of learning. It helps learners visualise the processes they go through when learning, providing structure that helps them make the most out of...

5 ways a mastery of grammar contributes to high attainment Explicit teaching of grammar enhances learners’ ability to think and communicate clearly. In turn, this leads both to academic attainment and greater self confidence. Here, we look in more detail at...

Explore our recommendations for some great books for secondary learners that promote diversity and inclusion.

How can your students benefit from teaching fiction? We highlight the key benefits of reading fiction texts and how they can improve literacy skills.

What is critical literacy, how does it differ from critical thinking, and strategies for teaching critical literacy to improve literacy and knowledge.

Strong literacy skills strengthen young people's ability to: Read or listen to information on a particular subject Organise their thoughts and communicate them effectively Demonstrate their learning in writing and speech These benefits aren't confined to just...

84% of the texts we read in adult life are non-fiction , a percentage we see mirrored in the ratio of non-fiction to fiction passages in important school exams. Over the past 20 years, however, the push to encourage UK children to read independently has left...

We look at what the OED word of the year teaches us about the ever-evolving nature of language and how we can keep up.

Is individualised learning the key for closing the attainment gap? How can schools use Pupil Premium funding to individualise learning?

Literacy experts share strategies for disciplinary literacy in the classroom, implementing EEF guidance and more in our literacy webinar.

School leaders share best practice for engaging staff and students We know the curriculum-wide impact of improving literacy. To share expertise from the Bedrock Learning school community, we held a webinar with three primary and secondary school leads giving...

What are poetic devices, how do poetic devices support critical literacy, and strategies to teach aspects of poetry in primary and secondary.

With the current drive towards evidence-informed teaching, there’s a wealth of pedagogical research available; however, translating it into the classroom can be a struggle. At Bedrock, we’ve based our online curriculum’s unique learning process on extensive...

Diagnostic tools can help you to assess learners’ current knowledge in a particular subject area, such as literacy. Here, we look at: when to measure literacy with a diagnostic tool what insights diagnostic assessments can provide a selection of diagnostic...

Schools often emphasise the importance of literacy in their communication with parents. It’s regarded as a vital life skill – but what exactly does ‘literacy’ mean, why is it important and how can families support the development of their child’s literacy...

How literacy improvement enhances learners’ outcomes The OUP 2020 Oxford Language Report, Bridging the Word Gap at Transition , highlighted the importance of improving academic vocabulary, especially during the transition from primary to secondary school. In...

Encouraging literacy improvement in EAL students has great benefits for their attainment and communication skills: what are the 3 tips you can use?

Spelling can be a stumbling block for children of all ages – and sometimes even adults, too! English is an especially tricky language when it comes to spelling, as it’s not phonetic. In fact, only 12% of English words are spelt the way they sound, which makes...

To engage with a text, learners need to understand at least 95% of the words. A wide knowledge of vocabulary and grammar unlocks concepts and ideas, enabling readers to move onto more riveting texts. In this blog, we explore a range of strategies and teaching...

Why improve literacy at home? Increasingly, literacy improvement is being prioritised as a key focus within schools. Teachers are recognising the huge impact literacy has on a learner's success across the curriculum and outside school. Literate children are...

10 easy tips for literacy improvement from our Bedrock schools Find inspiration to improve literacy throughout your school, direct from those who have implemented Bedrock and seen its successes. 1. St Richard’s Catholic College We reward learners each term...

We outline impactful strategies for improving literacy in Key Stage 2 using the Education Endowment Foundation's guidance for students aged 7-11.