the educator mag Jan 26 - Flipbook - Page 48
Why expanding academic
language can’t be left to chance
By Aaron Leary
QTS, BA, PGCE
Founder and CEO,
Bedrock Learning
In my classrooms, I observed a reliable
pattern: strong mastery of language
correlates tightly with academic
achievement. It doesn9t matter how
brilliant a curriculum is, or how passionate
the teacher may be; if a student can9t
access the language of the subject,
they9re already cognitively overwhelmed.
For too long, language growth has been
treated as something that simply
happens; knowledge acquired by osmosis.
Research and experience show otherwise.
Reading, writing, oracy, vocabulary and
grammar development must be directly
taught if we are serious about raising
standards. When literacy is left to chance,
far too many learners are left behind.
Every teacher knows the feeling - standing
in front of a class where some students
thrive, while others quietly struggle to
keep up. The issue is rarely effort or
potential; it is access. Some learners do
not yet have the words or fluency for rapid
progress. Like many teachers, I wanted to
do more, yet there were never enough
hours in the week to plan and deliver the
structured language teaching every
student deserved.
My firm belief is that if children can do
well, they will do well. I created Bedrock
Learning so that every child will do well.
Standard Age Score (SAS) within six
months, showing the impact of
structured, adaptive teaching. Those
results are not isolated. They represent
what happens when great teaching is
supported by the right tools and data
teachers can trust.
Evidence that drives change
Bedrock was created to support
teachers - helping every subject area
strengthen students9 understanding of
language and meaning. As Professor Tim
Mills OBE of STEP Academy Trust put it:
