Literacy Update

Important Literacy dates for Term 3

Week 6 Scholastic Book Fair commences Tuesday 18th August 2026
Week 7 Book Week Parade 9 am Friday 28th August 2026

Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee Challenge Years 3 - 6

The Australian Spelling Bee is a school-based competition and is now underway.

Each student completes one spelling round of 30 randomly selected words at school. They have 25 seconds to spell each word and can complete their round during school hours before the School Round closes on 31 August.

Students who qualify will progress to the State/Territory Finals, followed by the National Final.

Once students have completed the School Round, their results are submitted for verification. Schools will be notified after each round which students have progressed to the next stage.

I will keep families updated as the competition progresses and let you know when students have advanced to the next round.

Writing - Term 3

This term, our focus in Literacy will be on developing students' writing skills through informative and persuasive writing. Students have completed a pre-assessment writing task, giving teachers a starting point to identify what students can already do and the areas they can continue to develop.

Foundation to Year 1

The focus will be on writing informative texts and applying the writing skills students have developed. This includes using correct sentence structure, selecting appropriate vocabulary including adjectives, and applying known spelling patterns when attempting to write unfamiliar words. Students will also continue to develop accuracy when writing high-frequency words.

Years 2, 3 and 4

Prior to the commencement of explicit teaching of this term's writing genre, students completed a pre-assessment writing task. This piece provides the starting point for their learning and will form the basis of the writing they develop and refine throughout the term.

Students will use a writing rubric to identify the key features and skills expected in effective writing. The rubric will support them to evaluate their own work, identify areas for improvement, and set individual writing goals. Through ongoing teacher conferencing, students will receive targeted feedback and guidance to help them achieve their goals and strengthen their writing.

Throughout the term, students will revisit and improve their original pre-assessment piece using the rubric, teacher feedback, self-reflection, and goal setting. At the end of the unit, students will be able to compare their pre-assessment with their final published piece, recognising the progress they have made as writers and identifying the strategies that contributed to their improvement.

Years 5 and 6

The pre-assessment writing task showed that students have developed a sound understanding of the overall structure of persuasive texts. As a result, the focus this term will shift from text structure to strengthening the language features and persuasive techniques that make writing more convincing. Students will explore how carefully chosen vocabulary, sentence structure, and persuasive language can be used to engage and influence the reader.

Across all year levels, students will continue to consolidate the writing skills they have developed, including text structure, vocabulary, sentence construction, and making purposeful choices as authors.

Students will also develop their research skills by learning how to:

locate relevant information;
record key ideas using dot points; and
paraphrase information so their writing is expressed in their own words rather than copied from sources.

To support students in understanding what quality writing looks like and identifying their next steps, classrooms will continue to use Bump It Up Walls. These display examples of writing at different levels of achievement, helping students recognise the skills needed to improve their work and progress to the next level.

Looking for fun ways to learn how to spell? I came across these links that offer free spelling games, activities and practice opportunities for students to use at home.

https://www.spellingtraining.com/

https://www.turtlediary.com/games/spelling.html

https://spellquiz.com/spelling-test

https://www.merriam-webster.com/games/spell-it

https://childhood101.com/classroom-spelling-games-for-grades-2-6/

Scholastic Book Club reminder

Friday, 31 July 2026 is the closing date. Please place your child’s order should you wish to do so to ensure it is included.

Premiers’ Reading Challenge

Forty days remain in the Challenge. It's still not too late to begin.

Bernadette Parnis | Literacy Leader bparnis@sfmoreland.catholic.edu.au