Learning & Teaching

The Power of Reading         

Students of all ages and abilities are strongly encouraged to read daily. The younger year levels take home decodable readers that allows the students to break down the words into their sounds, hence assisting their fluency. Being a fluent reader is extremely important as cognitive overload is reduced. This allows literal 'space in the brain' for students to then be able to comprehend and understand what they are reading. The slower a person's reading rate the less they are able to process and consequently understand. Once students progress past the decodable aspect of reading they are able to and encouraged to read a large variety of texts. This includes non-fiction texts. Non-fiction texts extends a child's vocabulary and exposes them to words and language that they are not exposed too in their everyday lives. As students become older they are encouraged to read a greater variety of texts that have different themes and storylines. Through engaging in such material they are enriching their vocabulary, learning the meaning of different words and able to make clearer self to text connections. If the same genre and similar type of texts are read, then the child's vocabulary does not expand therefore making it challenging for their comprehension to keep growing. Therefore it is very important for older students to continue reading a range of literature. There is a very strong connection between reading and writing. Students who have a wider range of reading interests often reflect this in their writing as they are able to draw upon a larger word bank and ideas. 

So, at any age your child is, encourage and support them to keep reading! 

Mathletics      

Congratulations to Jack Scanlon who has received the Student of the Week award for Mathletics. So far this year, throughout the school Jack has accrued the most Mathletics points and therefore is a worthy recipient. Well done Jack!