Academic – Secondary School

LITERACY & NUMERACY
Literacy and numeracy are among the most important life skills that our schools teach. Literacy and numeracy skills are crucial to a person’s ability to develop fully as an individual, to live a satisfying and rewarding life and to participate fully in our society. In 2011, the Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn, published Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life: The National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young People 2011- 2020. The strategy sets targets for improving literacy and numeracy standards to be achieved by the year 2020.

WHAT IS LITERACY?
Literacy and numeracy are much more than “reading, writing and arithmetic” Traditionally we have thought about literacy as the skills of reading and writing; but today our understanding of literacy encompasses much more than that. Literacy includes the capacity to read, understand and critically appreciate various forms of communication including spoken language, printed text, broadcast media, and digital media. 

WHAT IS NUMERACY?
Numeracy is not limited to the ability to use numbers, to add, subtract, multiply and divide. Numeracy encompasses the ability to use mathematical understanding and skills to solve problems and meet the demands of day-to-day living in complex social settings. To have this ability, a young person needs to be able to think and communicate quantitatively, to make sense of data, to have a spatial awareness, to understand patterns and sequences, and to recognise situations where mathematical reasoning can be applied to solve problems.

THE TERESIAN SCHOOL LITERACY TARGETS 2018/2019

• Reading – Further promote a reading for pleasure culture in the school community. D.E.A.R. once a month with all junior classes. Increase the percentage of students reading for more than one hour per week for enjoyment from 32% to 50%. Set up a Book Club – encourage students to read for pleasure.
• Subject Specific literacy action plans to be further developed and integrated into classroom practices in all subjects. Information on these strategies will be printed in the school journal and will be posted on the school website.
• We aim to increase the percentage of students editing their work from 22% to 50% in the 2018/2019 academic year and increase the percentage of students using the correct layout for their work from 56% to 76%. We aim to actively encourage students to reflect on their own work.
• Teachers will introduce all new topics with key vocabulary explained to students. This will facilitate students’ ability to learn and spell new words. Students will be tested on these key words throughout each term.

THE TERESIAN SCHOOL NUMERACY TARGETS 2018/2019

• We will actively encourage all students to use the numeracy strategy when completing their work.
• Subject Departments will actively try to return all tests as a fraction.
• Subject Specific Numeracy action plans to be further developed and integrated into classroom practices in all subjects. Information on these strategies will be printed in the school journal and will be posted on the school website.
• Maths classes will receive a specialised calculator class at the beginning of the academic year.
• We will aim to increase the number of students attending lunchtime Maths Café. Attendance will be tracked throughout the year.

WHAT’S NEW

See our Recommended Reads for November and December 2020 here