Science of Reading (SoR)

At St Augustine’s College, our Learning and Teaching Framework places students at the centre. Purposeful learning, high expectations for all learners, learning in collaboration and learning in safe and supportive learning environments, speak very much to the methods and pedagogical practices that we use when facilitating learning at our College. 

Each of these frameworks are pertinent when supporting the delivery of learning with the Science of Reading (SOR). By teaching in teams, all students have access to more than one teacher and/or LSOs throughout each lesson providing extra support to enhance their learning. As a large component of the SOR is facilitated through the evidence-based strategy of explicit teaching, team teaching in cohorts allows for more time spent completing tasks where active learning and thinking is taking place with the support of the many adults in the room. It also allows for more structured support and the differentiation of the different learning needs of students in an inclusive environment. 

So how does the SOR match our College Learning and Teaching Framework?

Purposeful Learning

SOR ensures that our structured literacy approach is more purposeful in developing ‘learning to read’ and ‘reading to learn’ skills as well as writing skills. The evidence-based approach is more explicit and directed in its purpose, providing students with the opportunity to build the fundamental literacy skills in a supported approach before using these skills to contribute to a contemporary society. 

High Expectations for All Learners

By supporting all learners within the space during structured literacy, all students can access learning at their point of need within an inclusive environment. Having more than one teacher and/or LSO in the space allows students to receive differentiated and scaffolded support by having the supporting adults provide extra prompts where required. This can also provide additional prompts for extension as well. By using Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), students who then require further repetitions and support, access these through interventions provided outside of structured literacy time where possible. This ensures that we have high expectations of all learners whilst providing support to access the content with additional support.

Learning in Collaboration

By team teaching in cohorts, students are provided with many opportunities to work as a whole cohort, in smaller groups or individually. Students are able to work with a larger variety of students improving their exposure to many more different ways of thinking. With respect and trust at the forefront of learning in collaboration, students support each other in their learning journey.

Learning in Safe and Supportive Learning Environments

To ensure that all students feel safe, supported and have a sense of belonging, each community uses SOLE and our predictable ranges of response. Respectful relationships between peers and teachers ensure that students see mistakes as learning opportunities, thus also building resilience and confidence. The learning environments provide flexible opportunities for learning and allow for the varying elements of the structured literacy block.