Assistant Principal Report
Dear Families,
It has been a real pleasure to reconnect with students, staff and families/carers this past year whilst Mrs. Mills has been on maternity leave. I sincerely hope that all families/carers are keeping warm as we head into the cooler months!
Reading is a vital component of the Victorian Curriculum in government schools. It not only opens new worlds and broadens understanding but also fosters enjoyment and curiosity. Developing confident, engaged readers is key, and learning to read should be an exciting and rewarding experience for children. Phonics, which teaches the connection between letters and sounds, is a crucial step in making reading accessible and enjoyable for all students.
From 2025, all Victorian primary schools use systematic synthetic phonics as the basis of their reading programs. This evidence-based approach supports your child in developing critical word reading and spelling skills right from the Foundation years.
What is phonics?
Phonics is a way of teaching reading and writing by connecting sounds with letters or groups of letters. Phonic skills help children understand how letters link to sounds in spoken language and how those letters work together to form words.
What is systematic synthetic phonics?
Systematic synthetic phonics is an evidence-based way of teaching children to read and write words, and is used from Prep to Grade 2. This approach is called “systematic” because it follows a clear, step-by-step order for teaching sounds. It’s called “synthetic” because children first learn individual letter sounds and then learn how to blend those sounds together to form words.
Teaching children the connection between letters and their corresponding sounds, means they gain the skills to read words by sounding them out (decoding). They also learn to write words by breaking them down into sounds (encoding).
Children being taught systematic synthetic phonics become increasingly proficient in reading and spelling words. This increases their confidence, motivation and enjoyment of reading.
3 Essential Phonics Skills to Practice
Learning phonics requires mastering three fundamental skills:
Attaching letters to sounds: Recognizing the sound a letter or group of letters makes (e.g., /s/ for 's').
Blending: Stringing sounds together to read a word (e.g., blending /c/, /a/, /t/ to read 'cat').
Segmenting: Breaking words into individual sounds to help with spelling (e.g., splitting 'dog' into /d/, /o/, /g/). [1]
Easy At-Home Teaching Methods
Start with single sounds first: Teach letters and their shapes. Practice pronouncing them correctly so you don't add an extra 'uh' sound to the end (e.g., say /m/ as a clean hum rather than "muh").
Play with magnets: Use magnetic letter sets like the Magnetic Phonics with Words & Pictures from Mighty Ape to physically build simple three-letter words.
Practice speech and mouth shapes: If your child needs help with pronunciation, tools like the hand2mind Mirror My Sounds Phoneme Set let them watch their mouth and tongue position while looking into a mirror.
Use Decodable Books: Move away from guessing pictures or memorizing books. Decodable books, like those from Phonics Australia, only contain letter patterns and sounds your child has already been taught.
Where to Find More Resources
Victorian Government Guides: Check the Vic Government Phonics Guide or download the Understanding Phonics PDF for a complete, state-endorsed curriculum breakdown.
The teaching of phonics at our school is delivered through the Phonics Plus Program.
The Phonics Plus resources include a detailed scope and sequence program that sets out how students first learn simple sound-letter relationships before moving on to more complex letter combinations for reading and spelling.
Teachers have access to a comprehensive set of Phonics Plus lesson plans that include 25 minutes of daily and explicit phonics.
The lesson plans have been developed by current teachers and school leaders and will ensure that the excellent teaching practice is evident in our school.
Warmest Regards,
Kathy Cvitkovic
Assistant Principal – P-2