At Hilton Primary School we plan for all children to love literature (including non-fiction texts), and to continuously develop their skills in speaking, listening, phonics, reading, viewing and writing. The intended outcome is that our children enjoy and create a large range of written and viewed texts.
Aligned with the Science of Reading, our English Operational Plan is based on the “Big Six” components of effective literacy instruction: Oral language, Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency and Comprehension.
From Kindergarten to Year 6 Hilton teachers and Education Assistants, implement a daily Literacy Block which includes the intentional teaching, practice and application of essential language and literacy skills.
From Kindy to Year 3, we have a strong focus on teaching and learning oral language and vocabulary through intentional teaching and play based learning. We plan daily teaching in phonological awareness and structured, synthetic phonics, using Letters & Sounds resources. From Pre Primary, students apply their phonic knowledge to read decodable texts and to create written texts. Our teaching of writing is based on “Talk For Writing” strategies with students writing narrative, informational, persuasive and other text types.
In addition to the daily teaching and learning of reading skills, our junior primary students begin each Wednesday morning (8.30-8.50am) with Reading Club on the class verandas. Reading Club is very well supported by parents and carers who read with, read to, or listen to our students read a range of texts. Each term, we also enjoy a “Drop Everything And Read” (DEAR) afternoon, with every class participating.
We use a range of data to track student achievement and progress over time. Our class teachers meet with our families to discuss each child’s development, as needed.