A Wellington RTLB’s quest for literacy excellence

Amie with the teaching team at Ōwhiro Bay School

Amie Roberts is a dedicated educator whose journey has illuminated pathways to literacy excellence. She is also the recipient of the prestigious NEiTA Apple Award and the Teacher Mentor Special Award for her exceptional work supporting schools to implement structured literacy in Ngā hau e Whā Cluster 28 in Wellington.

Amie embodies the spirit of transformative education. Her journey began in early childhood education before transitioning into primary teaching and eventually finding her calling in the resource teacher of learning and behaviour (RTLB) service. 

However, it was a personal experience, watching her own son struggle with literacy, that ignited her flame of inspiration. 

“We enlisted the support of a tutor to help him and as I watched her teach him using a structured and systematic approach, I began to wonder why I wasn’t teaching literacy like this and why I didn’t know anything about this approach.” 

Witnessing the effectiveness of this approach to literacy tutoring propelled her on a quest for knowledge and innovation. 

Recognising the need for change, Amie embarked on a journey of continuous learning, attending professional development sessions, and collaborating with colleagues to plan effective support for ākonga and schools.

Evidence-based teaching

The heart of Amie’s approach lies in collaboration and evidence. She emphasises the importance of providing teachers with the research base and guiding them through the “why” behind structured literacy.

Armed with knowledge, teachers are empowered to implement evidence-based practices, tailored to the unique needs of their students. 

“Once they start seeing results there is often no stopping them, as teachers become very excited to see both their struggling and competent readers making progress.” 

It’s a journey marked by excitement and discovery, as teachers witness the transformative impact on both struggling and proficient readers. 

“I saw one school’s data who, since implementing structured literacy over three years ago, has seen the tail of underachievement shrink significantly. It is very exciting and encouraging to see results like this for our tamariki.”

One success story stands out amidst Amie Roberts’s journey – a group of Year 4 learners, who had been facing literacy challenges from the time they started school. 

“Their teacher and learning support coordinator were keen to implement a structured approach to supporting them. These students were Māori and Pacific students and all neurodiverse. After three terms of support, they were making accelerated progress and were reading for the first time in over three years of schooling.” 

With structured support and dedicated implementation of structured literacy, these students, for the first time in years, found joy and success in reading. 

“I would walk into the classroom to see how they were doing, and they would be grinning as they read their book to me independently. What a life-changing moment for these students!”

Implementing innovations while at the same time respecting existing teacher expertise is a delicate art Amie has mastered. By bridging the science of learning with the art of teaching, she empowers educators to infuse their unique personalities and insights into evidence-based practices. 

“We know from research that brains all learn to read and write the same way. Teachers are good at developing relationships and knowing each individual student in their classroom and so we affirm this.”  

This harmonious blend ensures that structured literacy implementation is rooted in teacher expertise as well as the evidence-based practices. 

“We then encourage them to use methodology that is research-based but remind them that they will adapt it to the personality sitting in front of them.”

Learning together alongside teachers is an important part of Amie’s relational approach.

Success stories

Measuring the success of structured literacy implementation goes beyond numbers – it’s about the holistic growth of ākonga. 

“There are many assessments that we can use to measure students’ phonemic awareness, letter-sound knowledge, spelling, oral reading fluency and comprehension. When we track these results over time, students make significant progress when the approach is followed with fidelity.” 

Amie also witnesses the transformation of school environments, where engaged learners thrive, and behaviour incidents decline. 

“It makes sense really, when students can access the curriculum because they can read and write then school becomes a much better place to be and their mana is enhanced.”

Despite challenges and setbacks, Amie remains resilient, fuelled by the sight of ākonga flourishing in their literacy journey. 

“Setbacks are frustrating but also all a part of the learning process – I see them as opportunities to reflect on how we could do things differently the next time to try and avoid whatever caused the setback. 

“By having strong professional relationships with teachers and leadership teams you can talk through setbacks together and reset and try again.” 

Each success story reaffirms her commitment to promoting literacy excellence and nurturing a community of lifelong learners. 

“My biggest aspiration is for all tamariki in Wellington and across Aotearoa to be fluent readers and writers. I want to be a part of lifting our literacy statistics so that all our tamariki are able to participate and contribute fully in a literate society.”

Vision for the future

As Amie continues to champion structured literacy across schools, her vision extends beyond individual classrooms.

“Alongside my RTLB colleagues and lots of other amazing professional development providers we will continue to build all teachers’ knowledge around the science of reading and learning and support them to use effective literacy practices. 

“A part of this work that I am excited about is continuing to develop a community of practice where teachers get together to share best practice with each other and learn with and alongside each other.

“It’s also really exciting this year as Cluster 28 has undertaken a literacy project where we are supporting a group of primary, intermediate and secondary schools to learn more about the science of reading and structured literacy.”