Literacy

We are committed to providing our students with an engaging, evidence based approach to literacy learning. This approach is consistent across the school and is driven by the Victorian Curriculum and is supported by the Karoo Instructional Model. Students learn to be confident and successful readers, writers, speakers and listeners; they are exposed to a range of strategies that they can draw upon to progress their own learning.

From Foundation we teach an explicit Phonics approach. Students learn letters and the sounds they make, sound patterns are also taught. These skills assist the development of reading, spelling, writing, speaking and listening learning.

We use the 6+1 Traits of Writing to develop authorship skills in our students. The traits of organisation, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, ideas, voice and presentation are the foundations of writing. The traits are taught explicitly in all year levels.

Our reading program focuses on ‘the enjoyment of reading’. We assist students to read by teaching decoding skills. Decoding is essential to reading, it allows the students to ‘figure out’ words they have heard but have never seen in print, as well as sounding out words they are not familiar with. The ability to decode is the foundation upon which other reading instruction is based, this includes fluency, vocabulary and comprehension skills.

Students are explicitly taught speaking and listening skills through a variety of experiences within all curriculum areas. Speaking and listening refers to informal and formal ways oral language is used to convey and receive meaning. Students are taught about the appropriate language for particular audiences and occasions, including body language and voice.