1. Recently Appointed Literacy and Numeracy Coordinators Primary
November 2013

2. Aim of the day
To consider the role of the Coordinator in raising standards in Literacy and Numeracy.

3. Objectives Participants will have opportunities to consider:
the evolving role of the coordinator; and
effective strategies for planning, monitoring and evaluation. 3

4. Programme 09:30 Introduction Setting the Scene
Roles & Responsibilities
10:30 Coffee
11:00 School Improvement Cycle
Effective Use of Data
Auditing
Action planning
Monitoring and Evaluating
13:00 Lunch
13:45 Sharing Effective Practice
The Way Forward
Plenary and Evaluation

5. Key Documents Every School a Good School (ESaGS)
Count Read: Succeed (CRS)
Chief Inspector’s Report
Together Towards Improvement (TTI)
Better Literacy
Better Numeracy
Levels of Progression Communication & Using Maths
CASS Website

6. Every School a Good School
To ensure that every learner fulfils his or her full potential at each stage of their development
Raising the educational standards for all
Closing the attainment gap between the highest and lowest achievers

7. Count, Read: Succeed
A Strategy to Improve Outcomes in Literacy and Numeracy
(Department of Education, 2011)

8. Overview of Count, Read: Succeed
High level strategy
Sets targets and milestones
Contains an Action Plan
Includes the Levels of progression
Sets expectation every child progresses a Level over the course of a Key Stage.
Sets out roles for:
school leaders
teachers
education bodies
Defines literacy, numeracy and underachievement

9. Targets for 2020 Key Stage 2 – 90%+
5+ GCSE A*-C inc English and Maths – 70%+ overall;
65% for FSME
5+ GCSE A*-C inc Gaeilge, English and Maths (pupils in IM) – 70%+

10. Role of the Coordinator
What do you think the role of the coordinator entails?
Think: Write down what you think are the key priorities for you as a new coordinator
Pair: Discuss priorities with your partner
Share with the whole group

11. Roles and Responsibilities Workshop
Discuss the given statements and place them in the appropriate column of the recording sheet:
Definitely
Maybe
Definitely Not

12. Role of the Coordinator
As curriculum leaders to:
demonstrate a commitment to providing professional development opportunities for staff, particularly teachers, and promote a readiness to share and learn from best practice
monitor and evaluate effectively school outcomes, policies, practices and procedures…

13. Role of the Coordinator
To ensure that teachers:
use adaptable, flexible teaching strategies that respond to the diversity within the classroom;
are committed and enthusiastic, enjoying a positive relationship with their pupils and with other school-based staff and dedicated to improving learning; and
reflect on their own work and the outcomes of individual pupils.

14. Chief Inspector’s Report 2010-12
Primary Education There is a need to: ◊ further raise standards in literacy and numeracy for almost one in five children; ◊ improve around 18% of learning and teaching that is satisfactory or below: key areas involve developing adequately children’s reading and writing skills and their mathematical understanding; and ◊ increase the quality of leadership and management in 22% of the schools inspected, where there is a need for a relentless pursuit of high standards and achievements for all children through highly effective learning and teaching and high levels of teacher expectation.

15. Literacy & Numeracy Policy
Context
Definitions
What does a policy do?
Child Centred Provision
High Quality Teaching & Learning
Effective Leadership
Connected to Local Community
Monitoring & Evaluation of Policy
The Development of a Literacy and Numeracy Policy
A guidance for Primary Schools

16. What does a policy do?
It sets out the school’s principles and practices for the promotion and development of literacy & numeracy, both across the curriculum and within the areas of English and mathematics.
It clarifies the responsibilities for all stakeholders in ensuring the support and development of literacy and numeracy skills.
It reflects classroom practice in relation to the statutory learning experiences within the NI Curriculum.

17. Policy Workshop
Read the Guidance Document on the Development of a Literacy and Numeracy Policy
Consider your current policy and use the worksheet to record strengths, areas for improvement, next steps and any additional comments.   

18. COFFEE

19. School Improvement Planning Cycle
AUDIT
UNDERSTANDING IN DETAIL WHAT IS GOING ON
EVALUATE OUTCOMES AND IMPACT
EVIDENCE BASE
SET TARGETS
QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE
MONITOR PROGRESS
MAKE CHANGES
ACTION PLAN

20. Effective Use of Data

21. What can data be used for ?
Data can provide information to help evaluate performance at:
Whole School Level
Class/Year Group Level
Individual Pupil Level

22. DE Targets Annual School targets for DE Emphasis on FSME pupils
- based on a range of evidence
- based on current cohorts of pupils
current levels of progression
Emphasis on FSME pupils
Action Plans support achievement of school’s DE targets

23. Under Achievement Low Achievement
Underachievement is used to describe a situation where performance is below what is expected based on ability. It can apply at the level of an individual pupil or describe a class or school, or indeed a system.
Low achievement is different from underachievement. Low achievement is where a pupil is achieving to the full extent of her or his ability, but is well below average compared to her or his peers.

24. Audit Process
Why?
Who?
What?
How?
When?

25. Action Planning

26. Action Planning Identify the focus for the plan Establish the baseline
Set the targets
Identify the success criteria
Agree the approaches
Identify specific strategies for monitoring and evaluating
Agree the timescale
Cost the plan

27. Action Planning Workshop
Working in pairs, sort the cards.

28. Planning in Action
Review your own school action plan and consider the following:
Are all of the targets SMART?
Are there too many/few targets on the plan?
Have you identified appropriate success criteria?
Do your approaches support the development of your target?

29. Monitoring and Evaluation

30. MONITORING
is the activity that is undertaken routinely to keep a check on progress and to check that what is supposed to be happening is happening in the way that was planned.
EVALUATING
Is the process of looking at the data gathered through the process of monitoring and making judgements about that data.

31. Monitoring and Evaluation Workshop
In your group discuss the given strategies and agree on the most appropriate ones to use in order to:
monitor; and
evaluate each of the targets.

32. LUNCH

33. Sharing Effective Practice

34. Benchmarking Data

35. Together Towards Improvement
The purpose of self-evaluation is to:
promote school effectiveness;
improve the quality of learning and teaching;
improve the experiences of the pupils; and
raise the standards which the pupils attain.

36. Better Literacy/Numeracy

37. PIRLS & TIMSS Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study
Executive summary may be found at:
Progress in International Reading Literacy Study
Full report may be found at:

38. The way forward
Personal reflection;

39. Objectives Participants will have opportunities to consider:
the evolving role of the coordinator; and
effective strategies for planning, monitoring and evaluation. 39

40. Contact Details Yvonne Mathers yvonne_mathers@welbni.org
Sylvia Thornton
Nan Millar
Marie Mc Cann
Mary Quinn
Michael Burns