English

At Flagstaff Hill Primary School we have a whole school focus on the development of English language skills by building students' capabilities for reading, writing, viewing, speaking and listening, based on the guidelines of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).

Our junior primary classes follow a systematic and synthetic approach to teaching phonics. The sequence has been designed to logically introduce the alphabetic code and aligns with a range of decodable readers that students use to practise and deepen their phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary and fluency. All phonics lessons include explicit demonstration, guided practice, independent practice, review of the day’s learning and opportunities for multi-sensory practice.

Our primary classes focus on a range of knowledge about the English language that further supports students’ ability to decode and encode. This knowledge includes phonemic knowledge, orthographic knowledge, morphemic knowledge and etymological knowledge. Understanding that spelling is a complex skill that needs to be taught explicitly allows our students to develop flexible and efficient strategies that they can draw upon when learning to read and spell unfamiliar words and contributes to clear communication of a written message.

Read an overview of the Australian Curriculum for English, including year level expectations for proficiency in the subject.