December 2022 - Every teacher needs to be a literacy teacher - but that's not happening in most Australian Schools

Thanks for your question Amanda. Do you think that literacy and independent research can be linked? I believe if school librarians can explain and demonstrate their role supporting literacy through independent research, schools will begin to value the contribution the librarian can bring.

We have a Reading TLR, a teacher who has oversight of the whole school reading strategy. The librarian works with them to support that strategy. The library is encouraged to be a hub, working with all faculties to ensure reading is not regarded as 'just an English department thing', as well as supporting reading for pleasure in various ways.

We run library lessons for y 7 and 8 as well as marking all reading records y7-11. I've inherited a way of recording information from these journals and I do wonder how useful it is and what might be more useful. Any thoughts? At the moment I just make a note of how much they are reading.

There doesn't seem to be a literacy lead as far as I am aware.

@Rachel Huskisson It is a difficult one Rachel because I don't think it is really quantifiable. When we talk about encouraging students to read are we only focusing on 'Reading for Pleasure' and if so, if they are just reading the words so you can note how much they have read is that actually doing anything. However, if we are talking about literacy more broadly then your role is wider than that. I would read this discussion on the FOSIL forum about reading through inquiry which might help https://fosil.org.uk/forums/topic/reading-for-inquiry-learning/ Let me know what you think...

@Stephanie @Rachel Huskisson I came across this blog today and think it links perfectly to what we are discussing. The only big thing missing with this is the school library but if the senior leadership team is already thinking about this then the library has a huge role to play. https://leadingonreading.wordpress.com/2022/12/14/all-aboard/comment-page-1/?unapproved=10&moderation-hash=fe69dcf3f25aa7be4ef03d5ee70b6ae8#comment-10

So, I thought I would update you following my INSET presentation yesterday. I did a 20 min slot to all senior staff and was petrified! As mentioned before, I used "I can save you time" as the hook, went through a bit about IFLA guidelines, tech integration and digital lit, then a whistle stop tour of the main subscriptions we have followed by some visuals of LMS dashboards that are subject specific and gave some examples of how I have worked with staff on these. I have so far had 10 teachers make contact wanting to work with me on collating resources for their subjects, the physics department are booked in to the library next week to start a project using resources that the teacher and I put together this afternoon! Im so chuffed, it was well worth putting myself in this visible position and I would not have done it without all of the great guidance from Elizabeth and the community here. I just wanted to encourage others that if it something you are thinking of doing but don't feel confident, to just go for it!

@Rachel Huskisson that is wonderful news Rachel! I am so pleased for you. You need to make sure you don't get overwhelmed and are able to manage expectations. Work with the teachers who are willing to give you something too. Remember it is a 2 way process. I look forward to hearing more.

Yes, to both of these questions.

Not sure, will find out!

I believe disciplinary literacy is used as a term and that is something that is currently being built on. I don't think content area is used as a specific term, but I think most people would recognise the skills being described under that definition and agree with it.

Our primary goal is a pragmatic one. We are a school with a high proportion of speakers of another language who come to us with varying degrees of reading ability in the English language, as well as other students who for various reasons have not met the expected standard in year 6. Our goal is to help those students catch up with their peers so that they're not at a disadvantage when they leave us. This is measured in a variety of ways: through STAR reading tests, annual summative assessments and, ultimately, through their GCSE results.

The library is involved by supporting the STAR/Accelerated Reader program, ensuring books of different ability levels as well as genres etc are available for borrowing, and producing displays and activities that introduce students to as wide a range of books and authors as possible.