Literacy
At Harvest Home Primary School we endeavor to ignite a passion for Reading and Writing, so our students can be lifelong ‘literate learners’. Literacy is taught through the key knowledge and skills as outlined in the Victorian Curriculum English learning area.
This includes the modes of:
• Reading and Viewing
• Writing
• Speaking and Listening
All students are engaged in daily Reading and Writing sessions, which are taught during the daily Literacy Block. Students are also provided with continual opportunities to develop their Speaking and Listening skills (oral language) during this block, as well as in all areas of our teaching and learning program. Teachers work collaboratively in teams to plan comprehensive differentiated programs and lessons that support students to progress along the learning continuum using the Victorian Curriculum’s age standardised levelled achievement standards as key indicators of progress.
Teachers use the Harvest Home Reading Instructional model which incorporates a range of purposeful reading tasks to ensure that students have multiple exposures to a range of literacy skills. During the early years the main underpinning of the teaching of Reading is Phonics and Phonological awareness, along with ‘making meaning’. A range of ‘fix it’ strategies are also employed by our teachers to support reading accuracy, fluency, vocabulary and understanding. As students transition into their later years, the emphasis shifts to Reading confidence and comprehension.
A consistent Writing process is also embedded across the school which involves; Generating Ideas, Planning, Drafting, Revising, Editing and Publishing. Handwriting and Spelling are also abilities that teachers also place an emphasis on to ultimately improve the quality and quantity that our students are writing on a daily basis.
Students are empowered to ‘think about their thinking’ (also known as their metacognition) as they read and write so they can monitor their thinking processes, understanding and creative ideas to make the necessary adjustments as required. Students are also encouraged to read and write about a variety of topics and engage in a range of text types and genres including digital mediums and print publications.
Throughout all year levels, independent reading and writing opportunities are provided which help to support reading and writing stamina that nurture a deeper level of knowledge building.
All of our Learning Communities have their own ‘Community Libraries’ which all students can borrow a selection of books from.
