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2 June 2020
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At Whanganui East School, a dramatic lift in literacy progress and positive behaviour has come about as a result of explicit teaching of phonic awareness as part of a rich literacy programme.
Teachers at Whanganui East School were concerned about a number of students who were behind in their reading and were not progressing as expected with literacy, noticing they couldn’t decode words or translate words into their writing.
Ray Stormont, the literacy lead teacher, recalls: “I knew we needed to do something different. There was an evident need – something was missing.”
The school, which has 187 students, took an iterative inquiry approach and explored a phonics-based method – starting small. Ray researched including a phonics approach and worked with two seven-year-old boys who were new to the school and had new entrant level reading skills. Both boys progressed quickly – one from level five to level 21, and the other from level five to level 17. Their behavioural issues also improved as they became confident learners. Their learning dispositions changed from “I’m dumb, I can’t do it” to those of confidence.
The results of explicitly teaching critical literacy knowledge and skills including phonic awareness had proved successful, and along with the evidence-based research in support, there was a valid and persuasive case for taking it to a larger scale across the junior school. The school’s teachers were also attracted to the close alignment of reading and writing, which could be taught together and in a complementary way.
Support and training from the school’s Resource Teacher in Literacy (RTLit) and their PLD provider, Massey University, then focused on unpacking the pedagogy behind the approach and developing informed practice with ongoing regular coaching and mentoring. The school was then supported to scale the project up by participating in a project run by Massey University: Teaching to Ensure Progress in Literacy.
Leadership has been key to the success of this literacy inquiry. From the outset, Principal Eleanor Barry required robust thinking about improved learning outcomes for students and conditions for success.
These included:
The regular mentoring and coaching opportunities from the Massey mentor and the RTLit has focused on learning new teaching concepts and methods for analysing their students’ learning, and how to plan next steps based on that precise need. The teachers are now ensuring they link the learning in reading with the learning in writing more explicitly.
Ray explained that the children enjoy the decodable texts because they can read and make sense of the text. They bring in extra vocabulary with better context. They can write a sentence from the very early days from when they know just three sounds: ‘My cat is fat’. The focus learners are making significant progress – seen at home and school.
Whānau are encouraged to read with their children, especially Dr Seuss and selected poetry that is sent home that complements the approach.
“High expectations of students are critical,” says Ray.
TEPiL is a practical teacher training trial that is funded by the Ministry and is run by Massey University’s Tātai Angitu. TEPiL supports positive progress in children’s reading and writing, particularly for those who have been struggling to meet expectation in their literacy outcomes.
Training involves:
Project facilitator Christine Braid says, “Teachers identified that taking time to set the foundations for literacy success has had enormous benefits for children in reading and even more so in writing. These foundations include a focus on phonological awareness and knowledge of the alphabetic code. Teachers report feeling empowered to make a difference for students and having an increased enjoyment of teaching reading.”
The project is part of a trial the Ministry of Education has been doing in innovative foundational learning – testing different approaches to enrich and improve literacy learning.
If you are interested in support and training in expanding your literacy learning practice by working with a Resource Teacher in Literacy (RTLit) – please check with your school’s regional Ministry of Education Advisor.
For more information about the RTLit service visit Literacy Online TKI(external link).
To contact the Ministry national office team supporting the RTLit service, email: RT.Literacy@education.govt.nz.
BY Education Gazette editors
Education Gazette | Tukutuku Kōrero, reporter@edgazette.govt.nz
Posted: 9:30 am, 14 February 2020
2 June 2020
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