Literacy Initiatives

This is a short-term reading intervention which challenges a class group of JCSP students to engage in recreational reading, at home with the support of their parents, and to collectively read a total of one million words over a six-week period.

Schools that participated in ‘Who Wants to be a Word Millionaire?’ Initiative last year can apply for this supplementary top-up funding.

This programme focuses particularly on the development of creative writing skills as an author works for a period of time with a group of JCSP students. The aim is to produce a piece of work that could then be exhibited as part of Make a Book.

The Reading Challenge is a short-term reading intervention, developed by a JCSP school co-ordinator. Students are challenged to read a book a week for six weeks. Parental involvement is an element of this intervention.

The Reading Challenge Top Up offers schools funding to purchase more books for a new reading challenge project which is already up and running but needs to be restocked.

This initiative is in place to support subject teachers who want to incorporate some literacy strategies into their classroom.

This is a great way to promote reading across the whole school  or a year group.

Schools that participated in and completed the Drop Everything and Read initiative last year can apply for this supplementary top-up.

Reading is an essential component of all subject areas so why not make it a visible component as well?

Written communication between pen pals can provide a rationale for letter writing.

In this initiative schools are invited to use a class set of e-books with their JCSP students and evaluate their usefulness in improving literacy levels and motivation.

Readalong Top Up offers schools funding to purchase additional books.

This initiative is based on a very successful project in O'Fiach College, Louth. JCSP students link with a primary school class and choose an appropriate picture book to read with the students.

In this initiative schools are supplied with book tokens for each student in the class.

For this initiative schools are asked to consider the most appropriate reading laboratory e.g. SRA and use it outside of the learning support context with a JCSP class group.

This intervention was developed by a JCSP co-ordinator. Students are challenged to learn keywords and keyspellings across subject areas over a six week period.

Readalong is a short- term reading intervention where students read while listening to the book being read on tape or CD.

The JCSP year is always an exciting and eventful one and what better way to capture all the activities and achievements than in a newsletter or yearbook?

This initiative will allow  schools to develop their own imaginative response to the literacy difficulties that they are encountering among their students.

This initiative is aimed at subject teachers interested in improving the spelling of key vocabulary offering the students a challenge in order to motivate the learning process.

This initiative will provide schools with an opportunity to purchase a digital camera.

Paired Reading is a short-team reading intervention. Student reading is supported by a tutor. Paired Reading runs three to four times a week for six weeks.

This initiative offers schools funding to purchase more books for their reading project which is already up and running but needs additional stock.

This is a reading challenge to encourage fluency in reading.

This initiative provides schools with the opportunity to investigate the level of impact that planned, strategic and focused dictionary-work can have on enhancing the teaching and learning environment and on improving the literacy of JCSP students.

Sharing and creating a common experience in storytelling aids in the development of oral language patterns and listening skills.

Everyone has a story to tell. Digital storytelling revolves around the idea of combining storytelling with any of a variety of available multimedia tools.

This initiative focuses on developing the art of penmanship and enhancing students’ written work.