Literacy

At Kismet Park Primary School, we recognise that literacy is not just about reading and writing; it's about empowering students to navigate the world around them with confidence and competence. To achieve this, we have developed a comprehensive approach to literacy instruction that encompasses the Big 6 in Reading – Oral Language, Phonological Awareness, Letter/Sound Relationships (phonics), Vocabulary, Fluency, and Comprehension. Incorporating the Big 6 into our daily English block is fundamental to our teaching methodology.

• We prioritise fostering strong oral language skills through interactive discussions, storytelling, and group activities. By encouraging students to articulate their thoughts and ideas, we lay a solid foundation for future literacy development.
• Our systematic structured phonics program helps students develop an understanding of letter-sound relationships and phonemic awareness. Through explicit instruction and multisensory activities, students learn to decode and encode words with confidence.
• We believe that a robust vocabulary is essential for comprehension and expression. This is why we incorporate explicit teaching of tier two vocabulary – words that are essential for understanding across different domains.
• In the early years our literacy block includes opportunities for repeated readings, choral reading, and reader's theatre to help students develop fluency and prosody.
• We teach students to actively engage with texts through strategies such as predicting, questioning, summarising, and making connections. By scaffolding comprehension skills, we empower students to become strategic readers who can extract meaning from text.
• We incorporate author studies to expose students to a wide variety of literary voices and styles. By exploring the works of different authors, students gain insight into the writing process and develop a deeper appreciation for literature.

Our teachers tailor instruction to meet the diverse needs of students, providing targeted interventions and enrichment opportunities as needed. Each student has their own reading and writing goal and regularly confers with their classroom teacher in both one-on-one and small groups.

Each classroom contains their own classroom library, filled with various genres of engaging books chosen by the students. Technology also plays a vital role in our literacy blocks, providing engaging resources and tools to support learning. We utilise platforms such as Reading Eggs, Epic, and Sunshine Online Readers to supplement classroom instruction and provide opportunities for independent practice.

At Kismet Park, literacy is more than just a subject – it's a journey of discovery, empowerment, and lifelong learning. Through our research-based practices and consistent whole school practices/approaches, we strive to ignite a passion for reading and writing in every student, equipping them with the skills they need to thrive in an ever-changing world.