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A GLOSSARY OF EDUCATIONAL TERMS

AQA - Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (for GCSE and A levels) 
BEAS - British Educational Administration Society 
BECTA - British Educational Management and Administration Society 
BSA - Basic Skills Agency 
DfEE - Department for Education and Employment 
EAZ - Education Action Zone 
EdExcel - Awarding body formed by the merger of BTEC and ULEAC 
FAS - Funding Agency for Schools 
FEDA - Further Education Development Agency 
GBA - Governing Bodies Association 
GCSE - General Certificate of Standard Education 
INSET - In Service Training 
LEA - Local Education Authority 
LGA - Local Government Association 
MLA - Modern Language Association 
NATE - National Association of Teachers of English
NGFL - National Grid for Learning 
NLS - National Literary Strategy 
NQT - Newly Qualified Teacher 
OFSTED - Office for Standards in Education 
PGCE - Post Graduate Certificate of Education 
QCA - Qualifications and Curriculum Authority ("the curriculum for schools and the assessment of pupils, plus the new foundation stage, and the public qualifications that we regulate") 
VTC - Virtual Teacher Centre

For a comprehensive list of education acronyms and abbreviations, see the excellent 'schoolsnet' page at:
http://www.schoolsnet.com/cgi-bin/inetcgi/schoolsnet/scripts/articles/abbreviations.jsp

Literacy Hour 
The National Literacy Strategy is a campaign to raise reading standards in schools. It includes national targets to raise children's reading abilities by the year 2002, and provides a practical structure of time and class management. A key part of the strategy is the Literacy Hour, a daily lesson in every primary school to improve reading and writing. The hour is intended to provide a clear focus on literacy instruction and is normally split into four periods of time: 

• approximately 15 minutes of shared reading or writing (whole class) 
• approximately 15 minutes of word and/or sentence level work (whole class) 
• approximately 20 minutes of guided group and independent work 
• approximately 10 minutes of plenary session (whole class). 

In implementing the National Literacy Strategy Framework, teachers may use the planning templates suggested by the Strategy but may equally well use planning systems that they already have in place. Although the Framework sets out in detail what needs to be taught, head teachers and teachers decide how to distribute the content to achieve balance and coverage of the objectives over a term and which texts they will use with their pupils. They also consider the particular needs of the pupils in each class and the opportunities in the rest of the curriculum for pupils to apply their developing literacy skills to understand, analyse, organise and present ideas and information.

National Curriculum 
"The National Curriculum makes expectations for learning and attainment explicit to pupils, parents, teachers, governors, employers and the public, and establishes national standards for the performance of all pupils in the subjects it includes. These standards can be used to set targets for improvement, measure progress towards those targets, and monitor and compare performance between individuals, groups and schools." The National Curriculum applies to pupils of compulsory school age in community and foundation schools, including community special schools and foundation special schools, and voluntary aided and voluntary controlled schools. It is organised on the basis of four key stages, as shown below.

Key Stages (KS)

     
For more in-depth definitions of terms, see:

www.standards.dfes.gov.uk 
Contains a very helpful and comprehensive glossary which lists and explains terms used in the National Literacy Strategy Framework for Teaching and associated training materials. It is intended for teachers. Examples have been given where possible. Historical or etymological information has been included where this may be useful.

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