At St Dominic’s we implement a structured approach to teaching literacy that follows a rigorous adherence to cognitive research and evidence-based practices. Structured literacy emphasises highly explicit and systematic teaching of all important components of literacy. These components include both foundational skills such as oral language development, decoding, spelling and handwriting, and higher-level literacy skills such as reading comprehension and written expression. Through explicit direct instruction (EDI), teacher modelling, guided practice, and independent activities, students master these skills with confidence, building a strong foundation for lifelong learning.
Sounds-Write P-4
Sounds-Write is a structured and systematic literacy program that we use to help students learn to read and spell with confidence. It teaches children how sounds in words match the letters on a page and gives them clear strategies to blend sounds for reading and break words into sounds for writing. The program is step-by-step, practical, and designed to support every child, whether they are just starting their reading journey or building on their existing skills. To support this learning, students also use decodable texts – books carefully matched to the sounds and spelling patterns they are learning – which allow them to practise their skills and experience success as growing readers.
Grade 5-6
In Years 3-6 students are developing the skills and knowledge required to meet the literacy demands of the 21st century whilst becoming proficient readers and writers in all areas of the curriculum. The skills and knowledge are taught using explicit knowledge-rich, language-rich and text-rich mini lessons focussed on morphology and etymology, vocabulary acquisition, grammar and syntax knowledge and building broad background knowledge. These skills and knowledge, along with fluent reading, are fundamental to successful reading comprehension.
Writing instruction is embedded where possible in the content of the curriculum through both fiction and non-fiction units of work. Students master the skills that are essential to become competent writers at the sentence level, paragraph level and text level.
Library
Children are encouraged to read widely and regularly in order to become life-long learners. Each class borrows books from St Dominic’s Library weekly. Please support us by encouraging your child to care for their books and to use their library bag. Our reading program is supported by our partnership with the Hume Global Learning Centre.