English
At St James, we empower students to think critically and communicate confidently.
At St James, we dedicate the first 2 hours of the day to Literacy, through a consistent, whole part whole approach. During this time, Literacy skills are explicitly taught and modelled through the language modes of Speaking and Listening, Reading and Viewing and Writing, which also includes Spelling, Handwriting, Grammar and Punctuation. Students have opportunities to learn during whole class, small group and 1:1 situations.
Speaking and Listening
St James places utmost importance in the development of students’ oral language skills and recognises these as fundamental building blocks for future success in literacy.
Reading and Viewing
Students are provided with daily opportunities to be immersed in a wide range of texts, to develop a love for reading. They are empowered to participate in rich, robust discussions about the texts they read, to continually enhance understanding.
Writing
During writing time, students create texts to inform, entertain and persuade. Teachers endeavour to provide timely, specific feedback to ensure students are aware of and can articulate their own writing goals.
From Foundation to Year 6, staff use the SMART Spelling approach, which incorporates a structured, sequential scope and sequence from F-6 for the explicit teaching of letter-sound relationships.
Assessment and Differentiation
At St James, we carefully monitor student literacy achievement and growth across all levels. This enables us to adjust teaching and learning experiences accordingly to cater for the needs of all students. Where necessary, teachers and Learning Support Officers use specially designed, evidence based intervention programs to scaffold and consolidate, as well as extend and challenge understandings in literacy.
Intervention and Support Structures
- MiniLit
- MacqLit
- GRREAD (Group Reading and Re-reading Easy Appropriate Texts Daily)
- Personalised Literacy Intervention
- Speech Therapy
- Occupational Therapy