Literacy

Our school places a strong emphasis on individualised education, with our literacy program serving as a cornerstone. Rooted in the latest research, this program encompasses Reading, Writing, Spelling, Speaking, and Listening on a daily basis. Speaking and listening skills are integrated across the curriculum, while reading is approached strategically, incorporating various strategies tailored to each student's unique needs. In writing, our focus is on nurturing high-quality student compositions through consistent teaching practices and exemplary instruction. The school's literacy program is firmly grounded in current research and plays a pivotal role in addressing the unique needs of each student. We partnered with educational consultant Ms. Deborah Sukarna to enhance knowledge and expertise in literacy and teaching practices, resulting in the development of a consistent instructional model.

Reading 

• Reading is a strategic and reflective process, incorporating modelled reading, shared reading, guided reading, and independent reading. Oral language, phonemic awareness, phonological knowledge, fluency and vocabulary are taught explicitly. These practices also provide explicit instruction in comprehension (see below). 
• The aim is to equip students with a broad array of reading strategies and foster an understanding of how to apply them, thereby enabling them to become independent and successful readers.

Writing

• The Writer's Workshop model (see below), in conjunction with the 6+1 Writing Traits (voice, ideas, conventions, organisation, word choice, sentence fluency and presentation) is employed at all school levels, emphasising purposeful writing and deep thinking. The traits are explicitly taught at a  student's point of need.
• Empowers students to become independent writers who take ownership of their writing projects, making decisions about content, style, and revisions by utilising a variety of resources and writing tools.
• Emphasises the teaching of grammar within the context of student writing, enabling learners to apply grammatical rules and conventions practically while crafting their compositions.

Spelling

• Students are explicitly taught a range of strategies in order to internalise them and use them interactively to produce correct spelling. There are three major spelling strategies - visual, sound/symbol and morphemic. Other strategies used are: analogy strategies (the ability to consider words they know when faced with writing new words - ‘tree and duck can spell truck’); and reference strategies.