Teaching & Learning

Reading at CSDS

At Croydon SDS, we understand the vital role that reading plays in helping students develop their communication skills and their understanding of the world around them.

As a part of our whole-school approach to literacy, we schedule daily shared and self-selected reading opportunities. 

Shared reading is when the adult takes the major role of decoding and making meaning of the text. When we read with our students, it provides opportunities for them to hear language and vocabulary that they may not have otherwise heard. 

Self-selected reading is when the student selects the book, and the adult may or may not take an active part in the decoding and meaning-making process, depending on the student's skills and direction. When our students have an opportunity to explore books and text on their own, they have the opportunity to practise scanning the page to make meaning and to begin to see themselves as a reader. 

Engagement with texts and literacy can look different across the school. It may include interactive activities like using magnetic letters, finding letters in rice and writing in shaving cream. 

You can help your child develop their literacy skills by having books available, reading with your child and letting them see you read for pleasure and function. If you would like further advice to help your child engage with books, please discuss it with your child's teacher at the upcoming SSG in week 5. 

Community Health

So far this term in Community Health, students have been celebrating NAIDOC week by reading the dreamtime story ‘Tiddalick The Frog Who Caused a Flood’ and discussing how the animals in the story might be feeling as well as why. This has led to conversations about how we might feel in different situations and allowed us to recap The Zones of Regulation. In transition and secondary, we have also started to focus on problem-solving skills by identifying the size of different problems. Great work, everyone!