English
At Mount Waverley North Primary School, we believe that strong literacy skills provide the foundation for success across all areas of learning.
Our English program develops students who can read, write, speak, listen, view and think with confidence, accuracy and purpose. We want students to become skilled readers and writers who can understand increasingly complex ideas, communicate effectively and develop a genuine enjoyment of language, literature and learning.
Our Approach to Teaching English
Our whole-school approach to English is aligned with the Victorian Curriculum 2.0 and informed by the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM) 2.0.
Students participate in a dedicated English learning block each day, providing protected time for explicit, systematic and purposeful teaching of the knowledge and skills required for reading, writing and oral language.
Our approach reflects contemporary evidence about how students learn. Teachers provide clear explanations and modelling, explicitly teach new knowledge and skills, guide students through supported practice and provide opportunities for students to increasingly apply their learning independently.
A consistent whole-school approach means that knowledge and skills are deliberately developed and extended as students progress from Prep to Year 6.
The Big Six of Reading
Reading instruction at MWNPS has a strong focus on the Big Six of Reading. These interconnected areas provide an important foundation for becoming a skilled and confident reader:
- Oral language – developing vocabulary, listening comprehension and the ability to understand and communicate increasingly complex ideas.
- Phonological awareness – developing awareness of the sounds within spoken language, including the ability to identify and manipulate individual sounds.
- Phonics – explicitly learning the relationship between sounds and letters so students can accurately decode unfamiliar words.
- Fluency – developing accurate, automatic and expressive reading so students can focus their attention on meaning.
- Vocabulary – deliberately building knowledge of words, their meanings and how they are used across different contexts.
- Comprehension – developing the knowledge and strategies required to understand, interpret, analyse and respond to increasingly complex texts.
These elements are taught explicitly and systematically, with the emphasis and complexity changing as students develop as readers.
In the early years, there is a particularly strong focus on establishing the foundational skills required for successful reading, including phonological awareness, phonics and decoding. As students become increasingly fluent readers, instruction continues to strengthen vocabulary, background knowledge and comprehension while students engage with increasingly rich and complex texts.
Reading
Learning to read involves both being able to accurately read the words on the page and understand what those words mean.
Students are explicitly taught the knowledge and skills required to decode, read fluently and comprehend texts. Teachers model the thinking involved in understanding texts and support students to explore vocabulary, make connections, retrieve and interpret information, analyse authors’ choices and develop increasingly sophisticated understandings of what they read.
Students encounter a broad range of quality literature and informative texts, helping them build knowledge about the world while developing their skills as readers.
Writing
Writing instruction is explicit and purposeful, supporting students to develop the knowledge and skills required to communicate effectively for different audiences and purposes.
Students learn about sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, text structure and author craft, while also developing the ability to generate, organise, draft, revise and improve their ideas.
Teachers explicitly model the writing process and the decisions effective writers make. Students then have opportunities for guided and independent practice, receiving feedback that supports continued improvement.
Reading and writing are deliberately connected. The quality texts students encounter through reading provide opportunities to examine how authors use language and structure, which students can then apply to their own writing.
Spelling – A Multi-Sensory Structured Language Approach
Spelling at MWNPS is taught explicitly and systematically using a Multi-Sensory Structured Language (MSL) approach.
MSL provides students with a structured way of understanding how the English language works. Rather than relying on memorising weekly word lists, students are explicitly taught the patterns, rules and structures that underpin English spelling.
Our approach develops students’ understanding of:
- phonology – the sounds within spoken words
- orthography – the letters and letter patterns used to represent sounds
- syllable structures and patterns
- morphology – meaningful parts of words, including prefixes, suffixes and base words
- etymology – how the history and origin of words can help explain their spelling
- spelling conventions, rules and generalisations.
In the early years, there is a strong emphasis on phonemic awareness, phonics and the alphabetic code, helping students connect the sounds they hear in words with the letters and letter combinations used to represent them.
Click here to watch the Spelling video showing the Sound Pack in Years 1 and 2
As students progress through the school, this knowledge is extended to increasingly complex spelling patterns and word structures. Students explore how words are constructed and how meaning, morphology and word origins can help them understand and spell more sophisticated vocabulary.
The MSL approach is explicit, systematic, cumulative and sequential. New learning builds on previously taught knowledge, with regular opportunities for students to review, practise and apply their learning in both reading and writing.
This approach helps students move beyond simply remembering how individual words are spelt towards developing a deeper understanding of why English words are spelt the way they are.
Oral Language
Speaking and listening are fundamental to literacy development and learning.
Students are provided with regular opportunities to develop vocabulary, explain their thinking, participate in structured discussions, listen and respond to others, present ideas and use increasingly sophisticated language.
Oral language is deliberately developed across the English program because the language students can understand and use supports both their reading comprehension and their ability to communicate effectively in writing.
Responding to Individual Learning Needs
Our English program recognises that students enter classrooms with different experiences, knowledge and learning needs.
Teachers use assessment and evidence of student learning to identify what students know, determine appropriate next steps and adjust instruction accordingly.
Students requiring additional support may access targeted intervention and additional teaching, while students ready for greater challenge are provided with opportunities for extension and increased complexity.
Our English as an Additional Language (EAL) program provides targeted support for students who are developing proficiency in English, recognising and valuing the linguistic and cultural knowledge they bring to our school.
Targeted Teaching & Tutoring
At MWNPS, we use student learning data and teacher assessment to identify when students may benefit from additional targeted teaching.
Students may be invited to participate in short, focused teaching sprints with tutors from our own school. These sprints are designed around a specific learning need and may provide an opportunity to practise and consolidate a skill, address an identified gap, or extend students who are ready for additional challenge.
Tutoring may take place before or after school, providing additional learning time while minimising disruption to students’ regular classroom programs.
Teaching sprints are purposeful and time-limited. Teachers and tutors monitor student progress and use this information to determine next steps, including when a student is ready to conclude a sprint or move to a new learning focus.
Importantly, this additional tutoring is provided by the school at no cost to families.
By using teachers and tutors from within MWNPS, students work with educators who understand our curriculum, whole-school instructional approach and current classroom learning. This creates strong continuity between classroom teaching and targeted support or extension.
Building a Culture of Reading
We want reading to be both a fundamental skill and an enjoyable part of life at MWNPS.
Alongside classroom learning, students participate in experiences that celebrate books, authors, reading and writing, including Book Week, Literacy Week and the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge.
Our classrooms and school library provide students with access to a broad range of texts, encouraging students to read widely, discover new interests and see themselves as readers.
Working in Partnership with Families
We recognise parents and carers as important partners in children’s literacy development.
Families are encouraged to support regular reading, talk about books and ideas, build children’s vocabulary through conversation and foster positive attitudes towards reading and writing.
Through a consistent, evidence-informed approach at school and strong partnerships with families, our goal is for every MWNPS student to develop the knowledge, skills, confidence and curiosity to become a successful lifelong reader, writer and communicator.