Whole school data focus

Each year, schools are required to develop goals for their annual improvement plan.  One of our goals this year is

By the end of 2022, teachers will use and interpret data to inform teaching and learning of reading, writing and mathematics  in order to achieve semester and year level targets.

In response to this goal, we have set up Professional Learning Teams (PLT’s). Teachers meet fortnightly with members of leadership and literacy coaches from CES to examine student data and create teaching and learning programs to specifically address student needs.  PLTs are run on a case management system, where data is presented and the group collectively problem solve and formulate a plan of action.  Using this system, teachers get to know all of the students in the school, not just the ones in their class, promoting the culture that we are all responsible for the education of every student at St. Clare’s.

Assessing Reading

Teachers complete reading assessments with students constantly throughout the year.  The frequency of these assessments varies according to the student’s reading level (more frequent testing is required in the lower levels) and also the student’s individual needs.  You may have heard teachers talk about ‘benchmarks’ when referring to reading levels.  These are the levels that students are expected to reach in each grade.  For reading assessments on Levels 1 - 30, we use the PM Benchmark system which is widely used across schools in all sectors and states.  For those students who have reached level 30 and are deemed as ‘independent readers’, we have purchased  a new benchmarking system called Fountas and Pinnell.  These assessments give great information to teachers about a student’s fluency, accuracy, ability to retell/summarize and their overall comprehension ability.  Teachers are able to use the information gathered from these assessments to target gaps in a student’s reading skills and plan for future learning.

While we are focusing on reading at school, you can certainly help develop your child’s reading skills at home.  Particularly for younger students, we recommend reading aloud with your child regularly.  Reading to children promotes language acquisition and literacy development and, most importantly, achievement in reading comprehension and overall success in school. In fact how often a child has been read to can be an indicator of future reading success. And you’d be surprised at how many older students love to be read to also!!

READING ALOUD….WHAT TO DO!

Here are some ideas to help you read aloud with your child…

Introduce the book: read the title, author, and illustrator; look at the cover; talk about what the book might be about; suggest things to look and listen for. This preparation helps your child to predict what might happen and who might be in the book..

Run your finger under the text, while reading. This shows your child that it is the words, not the pictures, which tell the story.

Answer only those questions related to the book; save other questions for later.

Talk about the story during and after a read-aloud session.

Use information and reference books to answer questions your child asks. Referring to a book for information models that this is the way to find out about things you don’t know.

Ask your child to look closely at the pictures to help understand the story and make predictions about what might happen next.

Repeat interesting words and rhymes while reading a book and at other times, like driving in the car.

When reading a repetitive or predictable phrase, pause and wait for your child to fill in the blank.

Stop to ask thinking questions: “What might happen next? Where did he go? Why did she do that?”

Follow up on the story. Invite your child to talk; draw or paint; or even pretend to be one of the characters in the book.

Keep reading fun! Remember this experience is meant to be a warm, bonding experience.

Leave the hard stuff for the school!