English

Speaking and Listening

The children will plan, rehearse and make presentations for different purposes, including situations outside of the classroom, such as speaking at assembly. They will be encouraged and guided in adjusting their speaking according to the purpose and audience.

The children will build on their ability to provide succinct accounts of personal experiences or events.

When listening in a range of situations, they will continue to build on their skills of identifying the main idea and relevant supporting detail.

The children will be involved in many activities that will provide opportunities to foster the above, such as general discussions, recounts, drama activities and presentation of work.

Reading

This year, at Black Rock Primary School we will be continuing the CAFÉ reading approach. CAFÉ focuses on Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expand vocabulary.

In the classroom, CAFÉ gives the children the opportunity to read, interpret and respond to a wide range of written and electronic material in different formats. Activities are completed through individual, partner, small group and whole class reading. Children are encouraged to monitor their reading goals with their classroom teacher.

In addition, Year Five students participate in Literature Circle sessions.  Students' work in groups, selecting a novel to study and apply strategies such as questioning, predicting and summarising while fulfilling their weekly role. Each group will meet on a weekly basis to share their thoughts and opinions about their text while listening to the varied viewpoints of their peers.

Writing

At Black Rock Primary School, we use the VCOP (Vocabulary, Connectives, Openers and Punctuation) and Writer's Workshop methodologies to guide our teaching of writing. VCOP is based on the premise that ‘if they can’t say it, they can’t write it’. This empowers students by allowing them to analyse where their skill set lies, and specifically what steps they need to take in order to further their writing. Writer's Workshop encourages engagement through free choice writing sessions and personalised learning goals. Students will be guided to achieve their goals through whole class instruction as well as individual and small group conferencing sessions.

Word Study

A word study program focusing on phonics, vocabulary, and spelling strategies will be taught from Year One to Year Six at Black Rock Primary School. Word study involves active exploration of words by examining, manipulating, comparing and categorising. It also offers students the opportunity to make their own discoveries about how words work. When students understand the spelling and meaning of words, they become more excited about words and are more confident to apply these correct strategies in their reading and writing.