Phonics improves student literacy skills at St Joseph’s Bombala

Teachers at St Joseph’s Bombala have been using InitiaLit to teach literacy in the classroom this year, resulting in improved reading outcomes for their youngest learners.

InitiaLit is an evidence-based whole-class literacy program providing all children with the essential core knowledge and strong foundations to become successful readers and writers. InitiaLit is a three-year program, covering the first three years of school (Foundation to Year 2). It provides teachers with the methodology, resources, and lessons to teach literacy effectively.

Miss Lily Sato using InitiaLit with Kinder students

This has resulted in an increase in students applying phonic knowledge to decode words when reading which has improved student motivation and their ability to grasp literacy concepts.

Principal Susan Tighe said St Joseph’s K-2 teachers had built a shared understanding of how to teach systematic and effective reading and writing skills since employing the InitiaLit program.

Using InitiaLit in all K-2 classes has helped St Joseph’s measure and track student performance data, which has helped target specific students to support further using small group intervention lessons.

Mrs Tighe said children who participated in the small group intervention program were having more success picking up core literacy skills which would equip them to become great readers.

Miss Dannielle Kelley using InitiaLit with Year 1/2 students

“We are also helping parents guide student learning at home by providing instructions to ensure consistency between what the child is learning in the classroom and how they are practicing at home”.

The benefits of explicit instruction and an evidence-based program such as InitiaLit, are already clear with improvements in motivation, recall and engagement in the classroom.

To learn more about the success of InitiaLit at St Joseph’s Bombala, contact Susan Tighe at susan.tighe@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Find out more about InitiaLit.