English

English 

At Clayton South Primary School, our students are engaged in 12 hours of literacy instruction each week.  

At CSPS we follow the Victorian Curriculum and apply the principles of The Science of Reading and Learning (SOR/L). This involves our teachers planning and teaching collaboratively and using a systematic, explicit (EDI) approach that is underpinned by evidence-based practices.  

Research shows that the first 3 years of reading instruction are vital for ongoing academic. This is why we use a Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) program at CSPS. We use Little Learners Love Literacy (LLLL) as the basis for our SSP. Little Learners come with teaching resources and decodable readers that students use in class and as take-home readers. 

Reading 

As reading is a vital skill necessary for academic success, our students participate in a dedicated reading skills session based on Orton and Gillham approach. 

These sessions cover the Big 6. Reading is made of 6 key areas underpinned by oral language: 

Phonological Awareness – recognise and manipulate sounds within words and sentences. 

Phonics – explicit teaching of sounds (phonemes) and corresponding letters (graphemes). 

Heart Words – irregularly spelled words that cannot be phonically decoded e.g said, are, was. 

Fluency - the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. 

Vocabulary – words that need to be understood in order to comprehend (understand) the text. 

Comprehension - understanding and interpreting what is read. 

Students will be expected to decode (read) and encode (write) in every lesson. 

Writing 

As with reading, a systematic, explicit approach is used during writing lessons. Teachers use the strategies outlined in The Writing Revolution to model and explicitly teach students how to write. During writing lessons, students are exposed to a range of writing experiences which include guided writing, shared and independent writing.  

Writing at CSPS involves syntax, grammar and punctuation lessons and genre-based lessons. 

During each lesson, students will have the opportunity to practice the skills taught and receive personalised feedback. 

Writing skills are taught and applied in all subjects at CSPS. 

Spelling, grammar and punctuation. 

To ensure our students can spell correctly, we use Spelling Mastery to explicitly teach how to spell words, spelling grammar and punctuation rules, morphology and etymology. The skills learned in these lessons are referred to and applied across the curriculum.