Over the last seven years Leighton Primary School in Crewe has made some remarkable improvements in literacy. Headteacher Glyn Turner puts this down to staff commitment, a shared vision and greater pupil motivation through imaginative teaching. Karen Baxter, a Y3 teacher uses a visit from Bentley Motors to stimulate fiction writing and is constantly assessing targets to make sure her pupils move smoothly from one year to the next. To help the school's drive for consistency the Literacy Co-ordinator and the Assessment Co-ordinator organise a moderation exercise each year for all staff. Teachers and teaching assistants are expected to know where children are at with their learning and what they need to progress. Pupils are set targets too, and put smiley faces on their books when they improve. Wendy Hardman, Geography Co-ordinator, asks her pupils to write a persuasive piece on a research topic. For Glyn Turner good literacy skills influence pupils' achievement at KS2.

Video Series: Literacy - The Whole Story
Release Date 2006