Principal's Message
Dear Parents/Carers,
EXPLICIT DIRECT INSTRUCTION- LITERACY
You may have heard on the news this week that the Victorian Government has mandated that Explicit Direct Instruction of phonics and phonemic in literacy lessons in Victorian schools from next year. At Warrnambool Primary School we have been at the forefront of this delivery for several years now and schools from around the district often come tour school to observe our lessons and take away strategies and ideas for their settings.
Literacy is the cornerstone of all learning. Being literate enhances wellbeing, engagement in learning, and our ability to navigate our way through the wider world.
At Warrnambool Primary School we prioritise explicit and systematic instruction of core literacy skills providing a solid base for learning in all subject areas. Teacher-led instruction is delivered in an explicit way where concepts and skills are fully modelled and explained in clear logical steps. Checking for student understanding occurs frequently throughout each lesson, enabling prompt targeted feedback.
Focused attention is given to word-level reading, spelling, oral reading fluency, handwriting, sentence construction, and building a learning environment rich in knowledge. As students progress through each year level, content and skills are reviewed, refined, and expanded upon. Students will learn to apply both knowledge and skills in increasingly sophisticated ways.
Learning to read and write are not natural processes. We reference a large body of research about how the brain learns to read and write, and integrate evidence-based instructional practices at all levels.
Literacy instruction spans across all curriculum areas each day incorporating the following key components:
Oral language – Speaking and listening.
Phonological and phonemic awareness – Ability to hear, identify, and play with sounds in spoken language including rhymes, syllables, and the smallest units of sound (phonemes).
Phonics – Learning about letters and letter combinations (graphemes), and the sounds (phonemes) they represent.
Vocabulary – Learning about words, word parts, word meanings and the origins (morphology/etymology).
Fluency – Automatic word recognition for smooth, expressive oral reading, and an understanding of what is read.
Comprehension – Thinking about, understanding, and responding to spoken and written language.
Writing – Handwriting is explicitly taught from the formation of individual letters to words, then to sentences, and short passages. Writing is a complex process where students communicate their ideas in print. They learn about sentence and text structure, syntax, grammar, and punctuation.
STUDENT TEACHERS
Welcome to Warrnambool Primary School! We are excited to have Student Teacher Olivia Lindsay working with Year 6 and Jasmine Cunningham. Additionally, we extend a warm welcome to our three Canadian guests, Tara Gauthier, Kayla Bleeker, and Lauren Hare. Tara, Kayla, and Lauren will be experiencing different year levels throughout their stay. They have expressed their admiration for our fantastic students, staff, and community. We thank them for their enthusiasm and encourage them as they continue their journey to become wonderful teachers.
KINDER VISIT
We were delighted to have a school visit from our friends at Koala Childcare. The pre-school students were instructed and entertained by Ms Jacqui Matters, our student leaders Leopold and Alex and our Canadian Student Teacher Kayla. They had a wonderful time and it was great to be able to host them.
STUDENT REPORTS AND PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS
Teachers and students have been working very hard over the past few weeks completing assessment and reporting tasks. Our Pupil Free Day today was to ensure that reports are written and completed ready for proof reading and editing. The reports will be available on Compass on Friday 21st June to allow discussion with your child’s teacher at the Parent Teacher Interviews in the final week of Term 2. Please ensure that you book your Interview time through compass when bookings open but if you have any issues please contact the school office.
Parent Teacher Interviews will be held Monday 24th to Wednesday 26th June from 3.30 - 5pm. NB: Year 3 interviews will commence earlier for those families who can access that time.
STAFFING NEWS
We wish Sharyn Fary a fantastic European Holiday over the next few weeks. Skye Nichols will be taking on Business Manager duties during this time. I will also take three week’s Long Service Leave at the start of Term 3 - 2024. Danielle Toone will be Acting Principal during that time.
Have a great weekend.
Peter Lee
Principal