Teaching and Learning 

Curriculum focus: An intentional cycle of Oral Language, Reading and Writing.

Beginning in 2022, our Site Improvement focus has been on implementing the best practices in Literacy, right across the school from Birth to Year 6.

During this time, there have been some new or updated practices included in our daily Literacy focus, as well as ongoing mapping of the best practices already in place across the school. Consistency of approach is a vital part of the Literacy focus. When learning to speak read and write well, it is this continuum of skills, developed over time in a specific sequence that supports our learners to improve as they move from Birth to year 6. 

Of equal importance is the need for the teaching of Speaking, Reading and Writing to be intentional. Teaching is based on data analysis of each student's need, and programming is designed to meet student needs in their Curriculum year level. Straight year level classes have supported curriculum planning and programming this year. The assessment of students literacy skills across 

 the year using DIBELS, PASM and PAT testing, helps inform the responsive planning and practice in each and every classroom. 

A cycle of intentional teaching: It is also important to acknowledge that speaking, reading and writing do not happen in isolation. Speaking informs reading, reading informs writing. 

Developing Oral language through extended talk, modelled reading, group activities and 

cooperative learning supports students in their writing. Modelled reading, (where the 

structures of a text, the author's intentions, the vocabulary, grammar and imagery is the focus), supports students to speak to peers in more detail, engage meaningfully with adults and the learning, and to better understand the nuts and bolts of writing. 

Our focus is to develop consistent whole school cycles of literacy teaching; teaching that intentionally and guides students through speaking to reading to writing through well designed, planned and programmed literacy cycles from Birth to year 6.