Literacy Learning and Teaching
Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge
The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now open and St John’s is excited to be taking part! The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 and aims to help young readers develop a lifelong love of reading. It is not a competition; it is a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 5 September 2025.
Children from Prep to Year 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books with their parents and teachers.
Children from Year 3 to Year 6 are challenged to read 15 books.
All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and former Premiers. This year, the Challenge is celebrating its 20th anniversary with the theme ‘20 years of words and wonder’ and a year of special activities. For details, follow the Victorian Premiers' Reading Challenge on Facebook.
Since it began in 2005, more than 4.5 million young readers have taken part and together read more than 63 million books!
https://www.vic.gov.au/premiers-reading-challenge
Logins have been created for all students and distributed by class teachers!
You can also contact our school’s Challenge coordinator and Literacy Leader, Mrs Nicole Webb - nwebb@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au with any questions. Happy reading!
Literacy at St Johns - DIBELS
This year St John’s teachers have been using an assessment tool DIBELS, to assist them in their assessment of students' reading skills and determining the next steps in their learning progression.
DIBELS, or Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, is a set of assessments used to measure literacy skills. It helps teachers track individual students' progress in foundational literacy skills.
These skills include phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency and comprehension. Teachers conducted testing in February and again mid year to monitor progress and inform further teaching. We have been delighted with the results and the great progress that our students are making.
Author Book Bash
Last week the students had the opportunity to listen to some of the country’s biggest authors through live online broadcasts. On Wednesday 25th, Australian Children's Laureate Sally Rippin (Billie B Brown, School of Monsters, Hey Jack) shared with some of the students how she brings characters to life.
On Thursday 26th, the Yr 5/6 Grandest Bookshop Trilogy Reading Circle learned how to finish a story with a bang with the award-winning author Amelia Mellor. The students learned how Amelia uses research and various resources when writing historical fiction.
In the last week of term, the 3/4 classes will engage with the much loved Australian writing legend Anh Do (Weirdo, Smarty Pup, Ninja Kid, Wolf Girl) as he shares his storytelling secrets.
Nicole Webb
St John's Mitcham Literacy Leader