Overview
At Allendale Primary School we understand how vital literacy skills are to support all learning and use evidence-based methods to ensure all students succeed and thrive in this area. Our teaching aligns with the WA Education Department’s “Teaching For Impact” document which outlines what effective teachers believe, what they know, and what they do to have high impact on student outcomes.
Explicit and systematic teaching of fundamental knowledge and skills is the pillar of our approach at Allendale. We aim to provide the best possible environment for all students to develop the ability to read, write and understand the rules that govern the English language.
Our skillfully planned English curriculum comprises of the following to ensure students are successful:
- Phonological and Phonemic Awareness
- Phonics (using the UFLI Foundations program)
- Spelling (using the Spelling Mastery program)
- Sentence Level Writing and Grammar and Punctuation (using the Syntax and Grammar Project resources as well as The Writing Revolution approaches)
- Genre Writing
- Handwriting
- Reading (using Knowledge Units)
The English Block
We prioritise the teaching of English at the beginning of each day and the block is two hours in duration. No specialist classes (or DOTT) occurs in the first hour of each day, and where possible when timetabling, our younger students are prioritised at having their English block uninterrupted. The two-hour English block is planned “to the minute” and comprises of all part of quality English instruction, such as a Daily Review to revisit previously taught content.
English Intervention
At Allendale, we provide two versions of English intervention to meet students at their point of need:
- UFLI Intervention is for Year 2-6 students still developing decoding (reading) and encoding (writing) skills at initial code (single sounds) level;
- Catch Up Readers Intervention is for Year 2-6 students who have developed initial code knowledge and now need a focus on fluency and comprehension.
Students are identified by assessment data and classroom teacher observations.
