Literacy
Literacy
At Mitcham Primary School, we believe students become literate as they develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions to interpret and use language confidently for learning, communicating in and out of school, and participating effectively in society.
We recognise literacy as an essential skill for students in becoming successful learners and as a foundation for success across all learning areas.
A balanced Literacy Program begins in the early years with a synthetic phonics approach to reading. Students are explicitly taught the skills needed to become accurate, fluent and confident readers, including phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.
Our students are inspired with rich, authentic writing tasks that enable them to understand the true value and purpose of the writing process, while being explicitly taught the conventions of grammar, punctuation and handwriting. Strong links are made between reading and writing.
Each classroom also provides a rich vocabulary and oral language program, with daily opportunities for children to develop their language skills through speaking, listening, discussion and exposure to quality texts.
Mitcham Primary fosters a love of reading. We provide opportunities for children to question, make connections, infer meaning, build vocabulary and develop deeper understandings about their world.
A positive and structured environment is created to enable students to develop the necessary skills and attitudes to become active, self-directed learners in Literacy.
Reading at Home
At Mitcham Primary School, we value the important role families play in supporting children’s reading development. Reading growth is strongest when school and home work together through regular, positive reading routines.
Our Reading at Home approach helps families understand the different types of texts students may bring home and how these support reading development. In the early years, students may bring home decodable texts that match the sounds and spelling patterns they have been taught. These texts help children practise accurate word reading, build confidence and develop fluency through re-reading.
As students become more fluent readers, they may also read other carefully selected materials independently. Across all year levels, we encourage families to continue reading rich texts aloud to children, including picture books, novels, poems, rhymes, songs, fiction and non-fiction. These shared reading experiences help build vocabulary, comprehension, background knowledge and a love of reading.
Families can support reading at home by setting aside regular time to read, listening to their child read, encouraging re-reading, talking about books and keeping reading experiences positive.
For more information, including year-level expectations, definitions of text types, and guidance about decodable and non-decodable texts, please read our Mitcham PS Reading at Home brochure: