Learning Partnership
Armadale Primary School
This Week's Learning bulletin: READING
Reading at APS: Building Confident, Capable Readers
This week’s Bulletin focuses on reading and how we can work together to support children to become confident, capable and independent readers.
Our reading results continue to be exceptional, and we attribute this to the systematic way we teach reading and our strong commitment to evidence-based research. We know that learning to read involves more than recognising words on a page. It requires children to develop a range of interconnected skills that enable them to read accurately, fluently and with understanding.
The National Reading Panel’s 2000 report identified five key components of effective reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. These findings continue to inform evidence-based approaches to teaching reading and align closely with the expectations of the Victorian Curriculum 2.0, which emphasises the development of reading skills alongside the ability to understand, interpret and respond to a range of texts.
At APS, our reading program addresses three interconnected areas: decoding, fluency and comprehension.
Decoding helps children use their knowledge of letters and sounds to read words. Fluency supports accurate, efficient reading with appropriate pace and expression.
Comprehension enables children to understand, interpret and think deeply about what they read. Together, these skills help children become effective readers.
Recently, we have focused on modelling what effective readers do as they read. We make our thinking visible by showing children how to make connections, draw inferences, use clues in the text and monitor whether what they are reading makes sense. These strategies support the Victorian Curriculum 2.0 expectations that children learn to use their reading knowledge and strategies to construct meaning and understand both literal and implied information.
You will notice that this week’s Bulletin includes reading checklists or anchor charts. These are designed to help children recognise the strategies effective readers use and develop their own internal dialogue, or self-talk, as they read. By asking themselves questions such as “Does this make sense?”, “What clues can I find?” and “What can I infer?”, children learn to monitor their understanding, identify when something is unclear and decide what to do next.
How can you support your child at home?
When sharing a book, encourage your child to talk about what they are reading. Ask what they think might happen next, what clues helped them work something out, how the text connects to their own experiences and what the author might be suggesting without saying it directly. Allow time for your child to think, explain their ideas and reread when necessary.
Our aim is to help children move beyond simply reading the words to becoming thoughtful, independent readers who understand what they read and know how to make meaning from a text.
Supporting your child’s reading journey at home is integra to their reading success. By working together and using consistent language and strategies, we can continue to strengthen the excellent reading outcomes we are achieving at APS.
Assistant Principal