Literacy

At Heathmont East Primary School we provide a comprehensive curriculum with a strong focus on Literacy. We inspire a love of literature through guided reading sessions, Reader’s Workshop, Writer’s Workshops and a multi-sensory spelling program. We believe in the connection between reading and writing, where students are encouraged to respond to their world in a variety of ways. We explore the writing craft through immersing the children in rich literature, examining different writing genres and discussing what makes a great writer through using the 6+1 Traits of Writing. At HEPS we provide opportunities for students to engage in rich conversations and listen to peers’ opinions and experiences. We follow a systematic approach when teaching phonics and spelling providing multi-sensory activities for students to read, spell and write words. At HEPS through our literacy program we empower students to learn and achieve success; to be curious, engaged, collaborative, empathetic and critical thinkers.

Reading

During Literacy Groups and the Reader’s Workshop students learn to:

• Select ‘just right’ books
• Monitor for meaning, understanding and fluency
• Become critical thinkers and develop awareness of their thinking during reading
• Gain confidence when reading
• Know when, why, and how to apply specific strategies to maintain and further understand

Writing

HEPS follows a whole school approach to writing using the 6+1 Writing Traits. The 6 +1 Writing Traits is a way of teaching, modelling, and assessing the instruction of writing. The seven traits of writing are Voice, Ideas, Presentation, Conventions, Organisation, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency and Presentation. The Traits are embedded within our writing program, including a Writer’s Notebook for every student to record ideas, planning and writing prompts.

During Writer’s Workshops students learn to:

• Organise their ideas
• Plan for their writing
• Write using different genres and for different purposes and audiences
• Edit their writing for spelling and punctuation including making improvements to structure and flow.

Spelling

At HEPS we follow the Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar program both programs follow a systematic approach to teaching phonics.

Jolly Phonics is a multi-sensory synthetic phonics program which makes learning to read and write achievable for all children. Jolly Phonics incorporates actions, jingles and stories for each of the 42 sounds which makes learning fun. Jolly Phonics teaches children the five essential skills needed for reading and writing. These skills are:

• Learning the letter sounds
• Learning letter formation
• Blending
• Identifying sounds in words
• Tricky words

Jolly Grammar is the next stage of the Jolly Phonics program. Jolly Grammar is an all-rounded program that involves the systematic teaching of spelling, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary. Jolly Grammar enables children to develop accuracy in spelling and writing  through the use of colours and actions. The Jolly Grammar program explores:

• ​Spelling rules
• Punctuation
• Parts of speech
• Dictionary use
• The tenses: past, present and future

Speaking and Listening

Oral language is a vital element in literacy development. Students regularly engage in activities that improve their ability to communicate through explicit instructions on what successful listening and speaking looks like. Speaking and listening activities are also embedded within Reading, Writing, Spelling and Vocabulary sessions.