At Settlers Primary School the English Curriculum is built around the Western Australian Curriculum and three interrelated strands of Language, Literature and Literacy. Our teaching and learning programs balance to integrate all three strands. The strands focus on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in Listening, Reading, Viewing, Speaking,Writing and Creating.
Through the implementation of 21st century teaching programs, SPS English Curriculum builds on the concepts, skills and processes developed in the early years. This transpires to our Year 6 students starting their Secondary Education with highly developed Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening skills.
Staff implement a wide range of programs and resources to provide engaging literacy lessons. Our Early Childhood programs include The Letters and Sounds Program, The Dianna Rigg Phonics and Home Reading Programs, PM Benchmark Reading Program and SPS Sight Word Lists. Explicit teaching is balanced with hands-on learning opportunities and purposeful dramatic play stations to develop oral language and active listening skills.
As students transition into Middle and Upper Primary School, their Reading progress is tracked using PROBE Reading Assessments. Teaching programs and resources including First Steps and The Key into Comprehension Series support our students to build on their reading skills. In Reading we are strengthening our already robust focus on Literature to incorporate excursions and incursions with the Fremantle Literature Centre.
Teachers implement The 7 Steps to Successful Writing Program to explicitly develop student writing skills. To further assist in the improvement of student writing capacities across Years 3 to 6 staff collaborate on moderation tasks to ensure consistency in assessment and a focus on teaching the explicit skills students require to improve. The Words their Way Program tracks student spelling progress from Year 1 to 6.
Year 1-6 students have access to Literacy Planet– an online interactive Literacy Program that allows students to learn at their own level.
Pre-Primary to Year 2 students who require extra support to develop their Reading skills have the opportunity to join SPS Racing to Read Peer Mentor Program. Students read with a Year 3-6 peer mentor in the library for 15 minutes 4 mornings a week.
Literacy Leapers- our literacy extension program for Years 2-5 students provides explicit small group teaching focused on higher levelled reading comprehension, grammar and writing skills.
Our well-resourced Library, led by our passionate librarian Mrs Lynn Walker engages student’s interests. To include contemporary and popular texts, students give feedback to Mrs Walker so that all students develop a lifelong love of reading. As well as take home reading programs students regularly borrow books from the library.