Reading

Hesket Primary School values the latest research regarding students learning to read. Our program is based around a synthetic, explicit and systematic approach. This means all phonemes (sounds) are explicitly taught so that students can confidently decode new phonetic words. We know this is one of the most crucial early reading skills. 

Word Recognition (decoding and sight words) 

Alongside the explicit teaching of phonemes, students learn high 

frequency or ‘Camera Words’ to give confidence and fluency to reading.

Language Comprehension

Across all years we engage in an exploration of rich texts with constant modelling of quality literature read aloud to students. Followed in the Middle and Senior years by novel studies, text response activities and explicit teaching of vocabulary and language structure. 

Fluency 

Reading fluency is a key component of learning to read, acting as a crucial bridge between decoding and comprehension. It is the ability to read aloud accurately, at a good pace, and with expression. Fluency is the skill that enables both the effortless and automatic recognition of words and the comprehension of the text's meaning. Fluent readers don't have to expend mental energy on figuring out individual words, which allows them to use their cognitive resources for higher-level comprehension tasks. Essentially, fluency is the progression that allows a reader to move from simply recognizing words to fully understanding what they read.

Writing

Hesket Primary School bases their Writing hour on the High Impact Teaching Strategies, particularly Worked Examples and High Expectations alongside regular opportunities for sustained practice.  The program empowers students to become confident writers by providing high-quality models within a structured framework and extended opportunities for daily practice. From Foundation, teachers model high-quality writing and encourage students to experiment with new techniques in their own work. Teachers model the behaviours of great writers and set high expectations for students, resulting in work of an exceptional standard. 

At Hesket, students:

• are explicitly taught syntax rules and conventions
• build stamina by writing for extended periods every day
• are explicitly taught strategies to enhance their writing
• are engaged using a stimulus or visual prompt
• brainstorm and are given effective vocabulary
• are given sample texts and a plan
• are given regular feedback
• regularly publish, share and celebrate their work.

Spelling

Our spelling follows a systematic, explicit and synthetic (SES) phonics approach. Spelling is best taught through pattern and regularity. Our spelling follows a sequential approach where spelling rules are taught in the context of words, in a way that builds on from prior years. 

There are two areas of knowledge that students need to develop to become independent spellers:

1. Phonological knowledge is to do with sounds. It includes the ability to break words into syllables and individual sounds (phonemes)
2. Orthographical knowledge is to do with letters. It is a visual skill that requires students to choose the correct letters that make a sound in a word. This is where students know that words ‘look right’.

Junior - Our Junior spelling program focuses on phonemic awareness and the use of spelling rules and orthographic knowledge to make plausible spelling choices.

Senior - Our Senior spelling program builds on the Junior program with increasing complexity and a greater emphasis on vocabulary development and word study.  

Spelling is differentiated within grades with the number and complexity of words set differing for each student.