At St. Monica’s we believe that essential to all learning, is literacy competence. Therefore the study of English is central to the growth and development of all our students. Our English program strives to develop in each child the skills, behaviours and knowledge required to become literate lifelong learners. Through contemporary learning approaches we aim to empower students with the literacy knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of the future.
Reading and Viewing, Writing and Speaking and Listening are all taught in line with the Victorian curriculum and embedded within the Catholic Education Melbourne’s, Horizons of Hope framework.
We achieve student learning through
- Explicit, focused teaching which builds on students strengths and targets the developmental needs of individual students
- Engaging students in purposeful, meaningful learning tasks
- Implementation of the ongoing professional development of teachers, ensuring teaching practices are well grounded in current educational research and thinking
- Embracing 21 Century learning that incorporates a wide variety of multiliteracies
- By encouraging the transference of literacy skills into all curriculum areas
English Assessment
At Monica’s we continuously use data to inform our teaching. Our assessment informs future planning that allows for differentiation. We follow an assessment schedule in order to monitor children’s learning progress over time.
Formal and informal assessments of students occur throughout the year to monitor and cater for students’ needs. The information is then used to plan for future instruction. Reporting to parents occurs both informally and formally, through teacher/parent communication, student work samples, formal parent teacher interviews and written reports.
Intervention
English teaching offers support to assist the needs of both highly able students and those students with additional needs. Our Reading Recovery Program for students in Year 1 provides an intensive program of one-to-one teaching in literacy skills. This program is designed to help support our students to accelerate their learning to a level appropriate to their age. Students with additional needs in other year levels are supported through the use of our Literacy and Wellbeing Leaders, CEO school advisors and speech pathologists and Learning Support Officers who implement a variety of tailored programs, such as Literacy Learning Intervention (LLI).
Parents As Partners
At St. Monica’s we value the importance of developing close partnerships with our parents in their children’s learning. We acknowledge the tremendous impact parent involvement can have on building positive attitudes and improving student learning. We encourage parents to support children’s learning by taking an active role through classroom support.
Celebrating Literature
At St Monica’s we raise the profile of literature. We celebrate and share opportunities to promote literacy across the school. Events such as National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS), Book Week, Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge (VPRC), National Literacy and Numeracy Week, visits to the local library, Author and Illustrator visits and cross aged literacy activities enhance and promote the importance of literature in both the school community and the wider community.