At St Mary MacKillop we believe English is at the heart of all learning. Through reading, writing, speaking, and listening, our students build the skills they will need to communicate confidently, think critically, and express themselves clearly. Our Literacy programs are underpinned by explicit instruction, modelling, guided practice, independent practice, and review. The structured literacy sessions include specific skill development in phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, oral language and comprehension. During spelling and writing lessons students are explicitly taught the various text structures, syntax, punctuation and morphology.
We follow the Victorian Curriculum (Version 2.0) and apply teaching practices based on how students learn best – using evidence-informed, structured, and engaging approaches.
We use the following programs to assist us in delivering these skills:
- InitiaLit Phonics Program for students in Prep to Year 2
- Ochre Spelling Yrs 3-6
- Ochre Grammar Years 3-6
- Novel study units and Book Groups in Years 3 to 6
What is InitiaLit?
InitiaLit is an evidence based program that has been developed at the Macquarie University in NSW. InitiaLit takes a holistic approach to literacy instruction incorporating instruction in systematic synthetic phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. It follows a structured scope and sequence that aligns with the Australian Curriculum and allows for a consistent approach across year groups from Foundation to Year 2. InitiaLit also includes rich vocabulary instruction and develops children’s oral language and comprehension skills. This is done by using quality literature (children’s storybooks) such as Possum Magic. The storybooks are also used as springboards for writing. InitiaLit incorporates systematic monitoring of student progress, identifying those who require extra support before the achievement gap widens.
What is Ochre?
Ochre is an Australian Educational Resource library that allows all Australian teachers access to high – quality and evidence based curriculum resources The resources cover Australian and state content and standards and reflect the growing evidence base for effective teaching practices, including explicit instruction, formative assessment, and retrieval and spaced practice.