Literacy
Literacy teaching at Kinross PS is facilitated through a common, consistent approach to the West Australian curriculum, with all teachers collaborating to implement whole school programs in writing, reading and spelling. Through this approach to teaching and learning our students are provided with high quality teaching and learning programs. First Steps and Cooperative Learning strategies are embedded in the programs.
Talk for Writing is taught from Kindergarten to Year 6. The program was developed in the UK by Pie Corbett and is powerful because it is based on the principles of how children learn. It enables children to imitate the language they need for a particular topic orally before reading and analysing it and then writing their own version. Throughout all classrooms students practice texts orally, develop story maps and use highly-developed vocabulary before inventing their own texts based on the genres studied.
Reading is explicitly taught using a range of strategies.Guided Reading is implemented consistently across the school from K-5 and then students transition to using Literature Based Units in preparation for high school and to engage older readers. All students participate in the Inference Training Program. Students develop their inferential skills alongside the three levels of questioning and daily speed reading encourages fluency. Junior students participate in reading Eggs from K-3. Older students in Years 4-6 participate in Literacy Pro Lexile readers. This program aims to challenge and support readers through an engaging process.
Spelling is explicitly taught through the whole school Sound Waves program. This phonemic approach uses a sound-to-letter strategy which acknowledges that sounds can be represented more than one way in written form. This synthetic phonics approach focuses first on the basic units of sound in our language – phonemes. Kinross PS introduced the Sounds Write Program in 2019 for Pre-Primary students and for students identified as ‘at risk’ in Years 1-3. Approximately 15-18 students in each year level attend an intense intervention program 4 x week for 30 minutes. Year 1 students will commence with this program in 2020.
