At Wangala Primary School we are committed to maximising literacy and learning outcomes for all our students.  As a school we take every opportunity to increase our students’ reading, writing, speaking and listening, and thinking skills, prioritising and protecting the first two hours of the day for our literacy program.  Our program includes:

– Explicit phonics, phonemic awareness and morphology instruction

– Daily opportunities to build reading fluency to build student capacity to read text accurately and quickly

– An explicit focus on vocabulary, linked to cross-curriculum teaching and our mentor texts to allow students to better understand the texts they access and the world around them

– Explicit teaching of comprehension strategies to ensure students understand what they read and make connections to the real world

– Utilisation of high-quality mentor texts to engage students in learning, and to highlight authors craft in writing

– Opportunities for students to explore texts which entertain, inform and persuade readers

– Creation of a ‘Writer’s Notebook’ used to inspire and aid writers to develop their ideas through creation of quality texts

– Making the learning visible throughout the school and opportunities for all learners to showcase their reading and writing skills through showcases and sharing opportunities to share

– Daily review of all previous learning to embed learning to long-term memory

– Learning based on students ‘next steps’ in their learning, focused on individual learning goals utilising our school developed Victorian Curriculum ‘I Can’ statements

– regular yarn circle discussions