Making Links: Guidance for Summer Schools. Key Stage 3. National Strategy.

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Summer schools are an integral part of the Key Stage 3 of England's National Literacy Strategy. They play an important role in giving students, who are still at Level 3 in the National Curriculum tests, a flying start to their secondary school career by making links between the Year 6 and Year 7 curriculum. Students are expected to achieve the targets the summer school coordinator negotiates with them and their Year 6 teachers. This guide is designed for those teachers and administrators running summer literacy and numeracy schools. The guide is divided into the following sections: (1) Introduction; (2) General Principles; (3) Characteristics of Successful Summer Schools; (4) Aims and Objectives; (5) Creating the Right Climate; (6) Management of Summer Schools; (7) Staffing the Summer Schools and Training; (8) Working with Primary Schools; (9) Identifying Target Pupils; (10) Planning the Summer School Curriculum; (11) Pupil Target Setting and Assessment; (12) Teaching Strategies; (13) Structure of Summer School Sessions; (14) Working with Parents; (15) Reward and Sponsorship; (16) Monitoring and Assessment; (17) Summer Schools--How Primary Schools Can Help; and (18) Bibliography (which contains 16 items). Attached are 10 teaching units, which are based on units of work were written by a group of teachers and advisers for summer literacy schools (part of England's National Literacy Strategy) in 2000. The units provide 10 days (50 hours) of literacy teaching and repeat the selected key objectives. They incorporate whole-class teaching as well as small group work covering one Literacy Progress Unit across the 10 days. The 10 units of study are: Language and Comedy; Newspaper Article; Descriptive Narrative; Journeys; Descriptive Writing; Narrative Writing; Letter of Complaint; Writing Information Text; Writing Instructions; and Persuasive Writing. (NKA)