Beaumaris Primary School: Stop Press

Topic Spotlight

Literacy and Maths at Beaumaris Primary

 

Literacy @ BPS 

A vast amount of research (Konza, 2014; NICHD, 2000) has identified six key elements that underpin reading development, and that should form part of any high-quality literacy program. These components are interrelated as the development of each one depends on the others. The Big Six are: 

 

  • Oral language – understanding and using spoken words  
  • Phonemic awareness – identifying and manipulating individual sounds (phonemes) e.g. hearing the /k/ sound at the beginning of ‘cat’ 
  • Phonics – knowledge of the relationships between the sound (phoneme) and the letter/s (grapheme) e.g. knowing that the /k/ sound in ‘cat’ is represented by the letter ‘c’ 
  • Fluency – reading accurately, at an appropriate rate, and with suitable expression 
  • Vocabulary – understanding words in isolation and in context 
  • Comprehension – making meaning from text which includes developing knowledge of grammar. 

 

At Beaumaris Primary, our literacy block is structured to enable each of these essential skills to be explicitly taught and practised. We have broken our block into two parts, both of which are allocated 1 hour: 

 

  1. Literacy – when the focus is on constrained skills (foundational skills that are mastered within a relatively short time frame) such as spelling, reading fluency and handwriting. 
  2. Language & Literature – when the focus shifts to unconstrained skills (those that require deep conceptual development and can continue to develop for the rest of a person’s life) including vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension and writing composition. 

The Victorian Department of Education’s Reading position states that Structured Synthetic Phonics needs to be taught to students in Prep – 2 for a minimum of 25 minutes each day (State of Victoria, 2025). This means we use a clear scope and sequence to teach increasingly complex sound-letter (grapheme-phoneme) correspondences. Students learn to blend and segment these to read and spell complete words. We use an evidence-based program developed by the University of Florida Literacy Institute — UFLI Foundations (pronounced “U-fly”) — to guide phonics teaching in the early years. This is complemented by Word Origins — an approach to teaching spelling and vocabulary that deepens students’ knowledge of phonology, morphology, and etymology, designed for middle and upper primary students.

 

In the second hour of the block, students are exposed to rich, quality literature, that often builds knowledge being taught in other areas of the curriculum. Students are taught to engage deeply with, and respond to, a range of fiction and non-fiction texts, as well as use these exemplars as models for writing.

 

Maths @ BPS

We build strong foundations in mathematics through an explicit, sequential, and hands-on approach that develops mathematical understanding, fluency, and reasoning. In line with the Victorian Department of Education’s Mathematics Position Statement, Maths at BPS is taught explicitly, meaning:

  • new knowledge and skills are explained in clear, small steps and modelled with a focus on understanding 
  • students are provided with plenty of opportunity to practise facts, skills and concepts with the support of the teacher and independently, with corrective feedback provided
  • mastery of key mathematical facts is a priority to facilitate automatic and accurate recall, freeing up working memory space 
  • concepts are revisited and reviewed through spaced practice to combat forgetting
  • student thinking is challenged to ensure they move from novice learners towards expert learners

  • students are provided with opportunities to apply their learning to authentic contexts (State of Victoria, 2025). 

     

In Prep–Year 2, students establish a solid foundation in number facts through engaging tasks, games, and hands-on materials, both inside and outside the classroom. Here are some of our students representing numerals, and others exploring the capacity of containers in the sandpit.

 

In Years 3–4, students learn standard algorithms for the four operations and develop their problem-solving abilities. They deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts while building fluency, with particular attention to multiplication facts. When number facts and core concepts become automatic, working memory is freed to focus on more complex problem-solving and reasoning. Here are our Year 4s participating in a Daily Review.

In Years 5–6, students apply efficient strategies to solve increasingly complex problems using both mental and written approaches. They explore advanced numeracy topics, including connections between fractions, decimals, and percentages; solving equations; working with cartesian planes; and identifying the properties of and relationships between angles.

 

To focus attention and sustain cognitive engagement, our teachers use research-informed BPS engagement routines. Students respond frequently—chorally (verbal or non-verbal in unison) or individually through whiteboards, workbooks, or verbal explanations. This high level of participation keeps students accountable, ensures they are actively processing learning, and allows teachers to check for understanding in real time.

 

Coming next newsletter… VTLM 2.0 BPS Instructional Sequence 

 

Sources

Konza D (2014) ‘Teaching reading: Why the ‘Fab five’ should be the ‘Big six’, Australian Journal of Teacher Education (Online) 39.12, pp. 153–169

 

National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Available at https://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/nrp/pages/smallbook.aspx

 

State of Victoria (Department of Education). (2025). Victorian Mathematics Position Statement. https://arc.educationapps.vic.gov.au/learning/resource/79431/victorian-mathematics-position-statement

 

State of Victoria (Department of Education). (2025). Victoria's approach to teaching reading F-2. ARC. https://arc.educationapps.vic.gov.au/learning/sites/literacy/2484/Victorias-approach-to-teaching-reading-F-2