Literacy learning is central to and influenced
by a huge range of people, experiences, agencies and providers. In Rochdale we
have adopted a borough-wide approach to literacy that aims to make
the links between influencers and provide a co-ordinated
response.
Our vision is for a 21st Century
borough where virtually everyone is literate. Change can take
place if people’s aspirations are raised and individuals believe
that learning can change their way of life for the better.
Listening to people from across the borough is
an important feature of getting this right; this includes people of
all ages and backgrounds, abilities and experiences. Agreeing
and working towards best practice, taking risks and supporting
innovation will be some of the ways we can encourage people to get
involved in improving their literacy. We can then challenge
the too simple equation that being poor means having poor
literacy.
This policy brings together the aspirations of
all those concerned with literacy and oral language of people
across the borough, and adopts an all-age approach to literacy in
its widest sense; across all communities and in many different
settings.
Literacy is vitally important throughout
life. Effective learning is centred on the individual learner
or is community focused; it is respectful, engaging and
pleasurable, and takes account of diverse needs. There are a
great many providers across Rochdale who work across age ranges and
communities. Working together, they strengthen networks and
ensure that their services meet needs.
This policy seeks to promote awareness, to
focus resources and priorities and to demonstrate how literacy
development links across agencies.
Rochdale's Literacy Policy,
Literacy Changes Lives