Literacy
In June 2024, Education Minister and Deputy Premier, Ben Carroll, announced that all Victorian government schools will be required to implement evidence-based Literacy teaching, including the use of a systematic phonics program from F-2 and a teaching method called 'explicit instruction'.
At St Joseph's, we have been meeting this requirement, and other recommendations of the Grattan Report 'The Reading Guarantee' since 2022. In line with the best-available evidence about how children learn to read and with the support of Catholic Education Ballarat, we are in the process of updating our approach to Literacy instruction. We are aiming to embed an effective and consistent Structured Literacy methodology from Foundation to Year Six.
This means that we teach all the elements of literacy, including phonics, in a systematic and explicit way, ensuring that all our students have the foundational knowledge and understandings they need to become successful readers and writers.
You may notice some changes in the language we use to communicate student progress and you may notice some changes in practice. For example, our early readers will no longer bring home 'levelled readers', but will instead bring home 'decodable books', that have been chosen specifically to align with our teaching sequence. If you have any questions or concerns about these (or any other) changes, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Please be assured that these changes have been made after much careful consideration, consultation with world-leading experts and - of course - in the best interests of our children.
A ‘structured literacy’ approach to teaching reading is best. It draws on decades of research evidence, including cognitive science, by explicitly and systematically teaching students the key sub-skills needed for reading and writing. (Grattan Report, February 2024)
At St Joseph's, we have been meeting this requirement, and other recommendations of the Grattan Report 'The Reading Guarantee' since 2022. In line with the best-available evidence about how children learn to read and with the support of Catholic Education Ballarat, we are in the process of updating our approach to Literacy instruction. We are aiming to embed an effective and consistent Structured Literacy methodology from Foundation to Year Six.
This means that we teach all the elements of literacy, including phonics, in a systematic and explicit way, ensuring that all our students have the foundational knowledge and understandings they need to become successful readers and writers.
You may notice some changes in the language we use to communicate student progress and you may notice some changes in practice. For example, our early readers will no longer bring home 'levelled readers', but will instead bring home 'decodable books', that have been chosen specifically to align with our teaching sequence. If you have any questions or concerns about these (or any other) changes, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Please be assured that these changes have been made after much careful consideration, consultation with world-leading experts and - of course - in the best interests of our children.
A ‘structured literacy’ approach to teaching reading is best. It draws on decades of research evidence, including cognitive science, by explicitly and systematically teaching students the key sub-skills needed for reading and writing. (Grattan Report, February 2024)
