Page 33 - The East Sussex Way

Case Study 2: Command Vocabulary

• Gildredge House School was established in 2013 and

provides for a range of age groups. There are 1240
pupils on roll (422 primary and 818 secondary). The
school has a sixth form.
• Most pupils are from White British backgrounds.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is below the
national average. The proportion of disadvantaged
pupils is below the national average.

The context

Primary and secondary subject leaders met to discuss the learning
and teaching within their subject areas. Secondary staff explained
key language that was not secure when pupils started Year 7. As a
result, humanities and science leaders across the school set out to
ensure target vocabulary was evident in the primary humanities and
science curriculum policies, with the expectation that all primary
colleagues would deliver the agreed vocabulary.

Action taken

The agreed vocabulary is as follows:

Geography History Science
describe describe identify

explain explain classify
compare compare group
comparative
concluding
evaluating

A pilot group of primary colleagues introduced Word Aware
(Branagan & Parsons, 2017) to support ß uent reading and vocabulary
knowledge. The Word Aware pedagogy is that spoken language
and communication skills matter because they:

• form the foundation for early literacy development
• underpin reading comprehension
• are the means by which pupils and young people
access the curriculum
• are crucial to forming social relationships
• lead to better life outcomes.
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