Freshwater Bay Primary School teaches English from the Western Australian curriculum and based on current best practice using the Science of Learning approach. Our English curriculum is designed to develop students’ love of reading, writing and discussion, and prepare our learners to be successful, valued and socially responsible citizens.
A robust instructional literacy block is followed daily in every class focusing on core concept delivery using daily reviews and evidence-based programs. Opportunities for extension and remediation are available through class differentiation of key content and programs such as MacqLit and the Reader’s Cup Challenge.
Phonological Awareness
The Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Curriculum systematically and explicitly teaches phonological and phonemic awareness skills in Kindy to Year Two. This includes rhyming, onset fluency, blending, segmenting, sound isolation, adding, deleting or substituting phonemes.
Phonics
Letters and Sounds is a systematic and structured synthetic phonics program which teaches the skills of blending for reading and segmenting for spelling in Kindy to Year Two. It progresses through all sounds, working from the simple to more complex. By following the progression, students build on their growing phonic knowledge. They quickly learn to read and spell, having fun along the way.
Fluency
Fluency is reading expressively with accuracy and at a good pace. It is one of the key components of learning to read. It is the progression from developing automatic word recognition skills to comprehension. Everyday students practice their reading fluency by reading short age-appropriate passages.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary refers to the words we must know and understand to communicate effectively. It is the knowledge of words and word meanings, the words we need to know to understand what we read. Prior to reading students are explicitly taught any unfamiliar words as they cannot understand what they are reading without knowing what most of the words mean.
Reading Comprehension
Comprehension is an active process that involves the reader understanding and interpreting what is read. Strategies like monitoring, self-questioning, visualising, comparing the text with prior knowledge, and identifying text organisation are all intentional, purposeful actions that are effective in improving comprehension. At Freshwater Bay Primary School comprehension strategies are taught using a gradual release of responsibility approach. The teacher models and explains when, how, and why to implement the strategies. The teacher then guides students to use the strategies independently, turning more and more of the responsibility over to them.
Spelling
Spelling Mastery is an evidence based direct instruction method used in Years Two to Six which approaches spelling through strategies, patterns and rules. Spelling Mastery combines phonemic, morphemic, and whole-word instruction to make spelling easier to learn, leading the way to more effective writing.
Writing
Talk 4 Writing is an effective instructional approach for both oral language and early writing development used in Kindy to Year Two. The program highlights the importance of oral language development as the essential foundation for the reading and writing process. Students internalise the language structures needed to write through ‘talking the text’, as well as close reading. The approach moves from dependence towards independence, with teachers using shared and guided teaching to develop the ability in children to write creatively and powerfully.
The Seven Steps Writing program is used in Years Three to Six to further develop students’ writing skills by breaking it down into manageable steps. Seven Steps explicitly teaches students the skills to plan and structure an engaging text, come up with unique and cohesive ideas, hook the reader from the first sentence and bring writing to life with descriptive language. Students gain confidence by practising each Step in isolation using fun, collaborative activities. After mastering the individual Steps, students learn how to put them together to write complete texts, becoming independent, creative and effective writers.
Lexia Core 5
From Year One to Six, students partake in the Lexia reading program, which is grounded in the Science of Reading philosophy. Lexia Core 5 is a research-proven program that accelerates the development of literacy skills, helping students make the critical shift from learning to read to reading to learn.