Supporting local schools to develop and share high-quality approaches to improving language acquisition skills and academic outcomes for target groups of students.
Words For All aims to raise achievement and aspiration for all learners by extending students’ knowledge and use of vocabulary and language. The programme has been co-created to support self-improving, sustainable school-led approaches to improving language acquisition across secondary school students.
Over the course of the programme leaders develop a greater understanding of students’ language skills and their schools’ strengths and areas for development. They also become part of a community of Words for All practitioners, working together to improve outcomes for all learners.
Learning focuses on culture and aspiration, as well as the pedagogical and technical approaches to improve students’ love of learning and future success. Words for All is founded on a belief that more of the same is not enough on this challenging issue and is committed to looking at different approaches, rather than quick fixes, to solve this barrier to learning.
Words for All is a collaboration between Whole Education, Bolton Learning Partnership and What Works for Children’s Social Care.
WHY WORDS FOR ALL?
– Makes a difference to young people here and now
– Identifies cultural, social and emotional barriers to learning
– Develops leadership expertise and strategies to diminish the language deficit across the school
– Facilitates peer learning and sharing
– Adds system capacity and scalability
– Provides high quality assessment and monitoring to measure impact and evaluate success
What are you doing about reading?
Now more than ever, schools are reviewing their approach. Words for All focuses on developing expertise within secondary schools to deliver high quality effective vocabulary and reading enrichment approaches. These interventions work in an individual and local context for targeted, specific groups to improve their language skills and academic outcomes.
Creating a school environment that prioritises oracy, vocabulary building and reading means that literacy underperformance can be improved, reducing inequalities in specific group language gaps. This also releases capability and enables a better system of support.
The project is open to secondary schools nationally to reach over 2000 students.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
– Using a Whole Education approach, working with schools in triads and encouraging peer learning
– Gaining a better understanding of the social and emotional barriers to improving language acquisition
– Immersion in the very best research and vocab/reading/language interventions
– Looking at how to successfully plan for and implement sustainable change
School project plan
Some of the ambitions set by our Words for All schools…
“To empower students with powerful knowledge and vocabulary, as powerful knowledge is liberating.”
– Hub 2, Copley Academy
“To deliver high quality literacy intervention that is personalised to the child and ensures pupil progress.”
– Hub 2, Walsall Academy
“To make a difference for our most vulnerable in their education and development.”
– Hub 2, Bishop Young Academy
Through the Words for All project, WE hope to address word gaps by inspiring schools to develop sustainable, long-term approaches grounded in research and examples. WE will support leaders to apply new learning in their context through bespoke mentoring and providing a network of people who are committed to developing.
If you’re interested in creating a culture within your school where language acquisition is prioritised, get in touch wordsforall@wholeeducation.org
“Words for All is about empowering our leaders and teachers in having sustainable long term change and building a culture around agency in which young people feel empowered to improve their own language skills and personal development”.
– Lisa Ling, WE Words for All Lead
“What there is is a careful, cumulative, well-crafted curriculum which is rich in experience, rich in talk, rich in language and rich in reading and vocabulary.”
Alex Quigley, Closing the reading gap: a post Covid-19 priority (Whole Education webinar 12th August 2020)
