Reading

Vision & Philosophy

“Reading…involves students understanding, interpreting, critically analysing, reflecting upon, and enjoying written and visual, print and non-print texts.”

(Victorian Curriculum, F-10)

At Quarters Primary School we deliver a comprehensive reading program based on The Science of Reading; a vast expanse of scientifically based research and the Big 6 components of Reading. Simple View of Reading and Scarborough’s Reading Rope are two frameworks we have also used to inform reading assessment and instruction at QPS. Using this evidence-based research, we aim to develop in our learners a love of reading, whether that be with the intent of being entertained, making connections with prior knowledge or to further their understanding of something.

“The human brain is wired for speech but must be deliberately trained to read.”

(Julie Christensen, 2021)

With this in mind our educators integrate and imbed all components of the Big 6 – oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension into the comprehensive reading program.

We use the Reader’s Workshop model (see diagram) to promote predictability and routine and allow learners the opportunity to learn to read in a structured manner. Structured literacy and explicit teaching supports all learners but is particularly beneficial for students with English as an Additional Language / Dialect (EAL/D).

All reading lessons engage Prep to Level 2 learners with daily opportunities to develop Phonological and Phonemic Awareness and Systematic Synthetic Phonics through the implementation of the structured Heggerty and Little Learners Loves Literacy programs. These structured programs teach learners the 44 letter sounds and how to manipulate and blend those sounds (Phonological Awareness). They also teach the mapping of speech sounds to letters to decode and read texts (Phonics).

For older learners who have developed more fluent and strategic reading skills, educators plan for learning opportunities that focus on the grammatical structure of words, explore morphology (the study of words and their parts), syntax (sentence structure), and the fascinating world of etymology (the history and examination of the origin of words and meanings). Learning about root words, prefixes/suffixes help learners understand words better and unlock the structure and meaning within words. Learners also begin to see links between different words and identify word families.

Educators share rich, authentic texts daily to promote reading for pleasure and engage learners in rich vocabulary with the aim of building their own ‘vocabulary bank’, which is a vital aspect of literacy development.

Explicit, guided, modelled and shared reading opportunities, as well as time for independent practice, ensures that at QPS, we develop fluent and strategic readers who gain meaning from what they read. Our educators provide literacy opportunities that emphasise the link between reading and writing because “good readers are better writers, and good writers are better readers.” (Julie Christensen, 2021)