Our approaches to the learning and teaching of English are all evidence-based. Our work is led by our English Learning Specialist, Linda Hawkless, who attends each of the weekly Professional Learning Community meetings to advise and support the teams in analysing data and identifying the next steps in each student's learning.
Oral Language
The very foundational skill required for every reader and writer is the ability to communicate verbally. Parents and carers of pre-school children are encouraged to engage in as much dialogue as possible with their child, answering all of their 'why' questions and modelling a wide range of vocabulary and language skills. Oral language is taught in every year level from Prep to Year 6. The big focus starts in Prep through discussions and sharing of ideas. Contributing to classroom discussions and collaborating with peers is a cultural norm at Seaford Park Primary School.
Multisensory Structured Language (MSL)
We begin each day with our whole-school 20-minute English Enhancement session. At this time, every teacher (including the specialist teachers, learning specialists, integration aides, assistant principal and principal) are scheduled in class to support the learning of each student. We have completed training in MSL and engage in fortnightly in-house refresher professional learning, designed to ensure a consistent approach across the school. The focus is on phonemic and phonological awareness, skills that are then transferred to our reading and writing activities. Data is collected through summative and formative assessments and through teacher observations of the students' work and is then analysed to inform the next stages in our work.
Seaford Park Primary School proudly hosts MSL training run by the Institute of Multisensory Structured Language Education every year and attendees come from as far away as New Zealand to attend.
Reading
We use a range of approaches to teach students how to read. MSL forms the basis of our work, developing an understanding in the students of how words work, and inspiring a curiosity in them to find out more and carry out their own research and journeys of discovery. We use evidence-based assessments that highlight the specific areas of need for each student and individual goals are set for the term or semester ahead. In order for students to become proficient readers, it is important that we provide quality reading material. Annually, we purchase new books for our school library based on the CBCA shortlist.
Seven Steps to Writing Success
In 2023, the school embarked on a professional learning series about the Seven Steps to Writing Success approach to build our collective understanding and capability in teaching creative writing skills to our students. Listen out for the shared language of 'Sizzling Starts' and 'Exciting Endings' around the school - hooks that the students can remember and apply when they are engaging in the writing process.
The Writing Revolution
With a significant improvement in our writing data, we knew that the work we had started in writing was having success. An area highlighted in the data as a gap was the secretarial aspects of writing. To improve outcomes in this area, we introduced The Writing Revolution in 2024 across the school.
