Literacy and Numeracy

Literacy

A new Reading Program has been introduced at Sandringham College. This program finds our Year 7 and 8 classes in the library once a week, tasked with a variety of low-stakes reading activities. Students set goals with teachers, discuss books in groups and use portable whiteboards to write down their thoughts in an exciting change to the traditional English curriculum. Aimed at reengaging a generation of children who consume media faster than ever before, the Reading Program is already showing its worth. Statistics from the library indicate Year 7 students are borrowing 250% more books than the same time last year, and comments like 'I forgot how much I like reading' have been common to hear from students. 

Being aware of the potential influence of social media and technology allows us to identify what trends to combat, but also what to embrace. The prevalence of TikTok cannot be ignored, and one of the most productive and wholesome communities on the platform is #BookTok, where book images are matched to popular soundtracks. More information on #BookTok is available at this article form The Conversation.

Numeracy

The College has also begun working on making Numeracy links explicit across different domains. Our Numeracy experts have been observing classrooms and working collaboratively with teachers in Science and in VCAL to ensure that the numeracy work that students complete is both meaningful and consistently applied. With aid from the Tutoring and MYLNS programs, we are often able to get two teachers in the one classroom to help support students of all abilities to continue climbing their personal numeracy mountain.

NAPLAN

As I'm sure your children have told you if they are in Year 7 or 9, NAPLAN testing has come around again, running from the 10th-20th of May. Shifting to an online format for the first time, students complete 4 tests: reading, writing, language conventions and numeracy. All schools will be completing NAPLAN online this year, and we are keen to see whether this has an effect on student outcomes. Results will be provided to schools from 'August onwards'. More information is available here.