Literacy News

The staff at Holy Family have  been on a journey of change in Literacy for well over a year now. Our knowledge around skilled reading continues to develop  in both breadth and depth, as we explore next steps beyond explicit synthetic phonics. Central to this approach is the Reading Rope model, developed by literacy expert Dr. Hollis Scarborough. The Reading Rope illustrates how skilled reading is woven together from multiple strands that work in harmony:

1. Word Recognition
   • Phonological Awareness: Understanding and working with sounds in spoken words.
   • Decoding: The ability to connect sounds to letters and blend them into words.
   • Sight Recognition: Effortlessly recognising familiar words that have been decoded and linked to meaning. These words then become stored in a sight vocabulary. 
2. Language Comprehension
   • Background Knowledge: Building a wide range of knowledge to make sense of texts.
   • Vocabulary: Understanding word meanings and nuances.
   • Language Structures: Grasping grammar and sentence structure.
   • Verbal Reasoning: Thinking critically about what is read.
   • Literacy Knowledge: Recognising text genres and their features.

As the strands of the rope strengthen and intertwine, they create the foundation for fluent, skilled reading.

What has changed?

Our shift toward the Science of Reading and Learning has included:

• Explicit Phonics Instruction: Utilising a synthetic phonics program in teaching students how letters and sounds work together.
• Morphology: Introduction of the 3-6 spelling program, PhOrMes in conjunction with morphology professional development and teaching of sophisticated vocabulary referred to as tier 2 and 3 vocabulary. 
• Rich Language Experiences: Reading aloud, engaging discussions, and vocabulary building.
• Fluency: Roll out of fluency pairs and repeated readings in Prep-6. Developing a fluent reading style makes way for comprehension to occur.
• Change in assessments: Aligning assessments to identify students earlier and with greater accuracy.

Where to next?

We are so excited to share that we have some wonderful next steps in the pipeline. As part of our focus on developing rich knowledge based units next year, we will be working with Dr Nathaniel Swain to create units of work that focus on explicitly teaching writing and content in a meaningful and sequential manner. 

2025 is going to be a busy year, but we are up for the challenge.

I feel extremely privileged to work with the staff at Holy Family. They are committed to helping students achieve and have demonstrated time and time again that they are lifelong learners. 

Ms Natalie Dib

Literacy Leader

ndib@hfmw.catholic.edu.au