Mary Brooksbank School is committed to providing quality Literacy programs that are tailored to the individual needs of each student. To achieve this, we are currently involved in two major Literacy initiatives.
The first of these initiatives is a National program known as Accelerated Literacy. This program was designed to improve the Literacy levels of Indigenous students, but Accelerated Literacy has begun to be used for all students who require Literacy support. With the assistance of Joy Mayfield and Rebecca Anderson from Campbelltown District Office, Mary Brooksbank School is modifying the Accelerated Literacy Program so that it can be used to teach Literacy to students who have a disability. All teachers at Mary Brooksbank School are currently involved in an intensive training program that will equip them with the knowledge, skills and strategies to effectively implement Accelerated Literacy programs in the classroom for their students.
The second key Literacy initiative at Mary Brooksbank School in 2012 involves trialling the Literacy Learning Framework that has been a collaborative project with Holroyd and Chalmers Road School. A working group of teachers from each school have designed a Literacy Learning Framework that will enable teachers to effectively assess, plan and teach Literacy to those students who have a disability that are working below the Early Stage 1 English syllabus level. The Literacy Learning Framework will also support the selection of outcomes and indicators for Accelerated Literacy programs.
When published, the Literacy Framework is likely to be made up of three key documents;
- Literacy Learning Framework
- Literacy Teaching Document
- Literacy Assessment Document
Throughout Term 1, all teachers at Mary Brooksbank School will be trialling the use of these documents to support Literacy programs in the classroom. Data will be collected from staff about the effectiveness of the Literacy Learning Framework and this will be used to make any final adjustments to the documents before moving onto the publication stage.
The third Literacy Initiative in 2012 is the annual Premier's Reading Challenge which will again begin in March of 2012. Mary Brooksbank School has a proud history of achievement in the Premier's Reading Challenge and were featured on Page 8 of the 2011 Sun-Herald PRC supplement. Each year all students take part in the challenge with the support of their class teacher and school learning support officer. Parents can also support their child by reading books from the Premier's Reading Challenge Booklist with them. If you would like to view the booklists or find out more about the Premier's Reading Challenge, click here to visit the official site. We have purchased a number of new books for the challenge this year which will be available in the school library Term 1.
If you would like to know more about Accelerated Literacy, The Literacy Framework or the Premier's Reading Challenge please talk to your child's class teacher who will be more than happy to speak with you.