We also need to support reading abilities so that we can facilitate independent learning of vocabulary. This generally means we are up against state selective and public schools who often have more time and resources. Detailing the impact of a language gap when moving from Primary to Secondary school and the effects of school shutdowns on vocabulary. One of the key points to consider at Key Stage 3 is the impact the vocabulary gap has on every aspect of the student’s life – from building relationships, to furthering their education and career. It is the core business of every teacher not just to understand how children learn to read, but also how they read to learn.

There is an excellent chapter on spelling and another on what a word rich or word conscious classroom looks like.James, along with most students in classrooms across England, needed a great deal of support to close the vocabulary gap so that he could navigate his way through the curriculum. This love of language and continual curiosity about what words mean, where they are from, and their legion of connections, feels like the end-game of great vocabulary teaching.

To promote this culture, I led whole school inset training in 2018 which introduced staff to tiered vocabulary and the demands of writing like a scientist/geographer/literary critic. Staff remarked with delight upon the sophisticated words students were using confidently and accurately as a result of teaching across the school, not just in English. With this in mind, it is important for teachers to generate Tier II word lists to study and also identify Tier II words that are encountered in reading assignments. We know that teaching complex academic concepts clothed in sophisticated vocabulary proves a barrier to too many pupils. The hope is that by combining the four main components of language (oral, reading, writing and listening) and by employing a multi-sensory approach, we will see an improvement in the use and understanding of vocabulary among our students.

As teachers grapple with the challenge of a new, bigger and more challenging school curriculum, at every key stage and phase, success can feel beyond our reach. One criterion for identifying a Tier II word is determining that the word has multiple uses or applications. An insightful book providing practical strategies for improving pupils' vocabularies through the explicit teaching of academic language, the fostering of "word consciousness", and more effective spelling strategies.