Narrowing the Gaps: Guidance for Literary Subject Leaders

Every primary teacher, when talking about the children in their class, will emphasise how their teaching tries to address individual needs. Many teachers, for example, are using the APP materials effectively to identify gaps in children’s learning and ensure that teaching considers these, perhaps by ensuring that children falling behind are given extra attention through focused guided work, or an intervention programme.

In part, these materials are intended to help schools, once data analysis has identified a group underperforming in literacy, to consider how to address their needs. They support a senior leadership team and, in particular the literacy subject leader, in reviewing provision and ensuring that teaching draws upon what is known from research and practice about what works well with different groups of learners.

The guidance focuses on providing practical suggestions to meet the language and literacy needs of different vulnerable groups of children, in order to narrow any gaps between them and the rest of the children in the cohort. The resource includes exemplar planning, case studies from schools that have trialled the materials and links to additional information concerned with the 'Narrowing the Gaps' agenda.