Literacy
In Victorian schools, literacy is a foundational skill crucial for learning and engaging with society, encompassing listening, reading, viewing, speaking, and writing across various contexts.
The Victorian Curriculum FLA-10 emphasizes the development of these literacy skills, with explicit teaching occurring primarily within the English learning area, but also reinforced in other subjects. Broadmeadows SDS is actively working to improve literacy rates, particularly in reading, with a focus on systematic synthetic phonics instruction.
Comprehension and reading for meaning provide a strong focus for the literacy program and students reflect on their reading by asking and answering questions. Students are encouraged to use technology to increase their knowledge on writing topics and as a medium to publish or present their written works.
All of these literacy programs are tailored to the individual needs of the students and relate back to their PSG goals. These programs include intensive letter and sound recognition, with a focus on phonics to assist with reading and writing.
Students practise basic reading to build an understanding of sentence structure and to increase sight word recognition and general vocabulary. They engage in language games and activities as well as a range of fine motor activities to improve hand-eye coordination and promote handwriting skills. Students are encouraged to share personal experiences to build confidence in oral language and social conversational skills.
They also record their experiences in writing journals where they use wordlists and dictionaries to assist with spelling.
