Literacy & Numeracy Support

Our lady of Good Counsel School offers a variety of support programs to assist children struggling in the areas of Literacy and Numeracy. Students are removed from the class and depending on the program work one to one with staff or in small groups of three or four.

 

Extending Mathematical Understanding

Extending Mathematical Understanding (EMU) is a research-based intervention program focussing on the early years of schooling. It has been shown to improve children’s learning and confidence in Mathematics. The EMU program involves intensive 30-minute, daily sessions for groups of three children over a period of ten to twenty weeks with a specially trained teacher.

Reading Recovery

Reading Recovery is a pre-referral, early intervention program for children who, for a range of reasons do not get off to a good start in their first year of formal literacy instruction. Reading Recovery Teachers undergo one year of specific training to gain the qualification to teach the program as well as attend regular, ongoing professional development sessions. The Reading Recovery program consists of daily, thirty minute, intensive Literacy lessons for a period of 12-20 weeks after which the majority of children are deemed to have reached the average reading levels of their peers. Our Lady of Good Counsel has one Reading Recovery teacher.  After a screening process, approximately 30 percent of the Year One cohort are invited to participate in Reading Recovery lessons each year.

Levelled Literacy Intervention

Levelled Literacy Intervention (LLI) is a small group, supplementary intervention program designed to support students who are experiencing difficulty in meeting their year level achievement goals. LLI is based on Reading Recovery principles. The aim of the intervention is to help students to meet year level targets in literacy.

Toe by Toe

Toe by Toe is essentially a decoding book which trains students to convert letters (or groups of letters) into appropriate sounds. The program is called ‘Toe by Toe’ to signify that students make progress with the tiniest steps – one toe at a time. Even though the steps are small, students can clearly measure progress right from the first day. The unique syllable division employed by Toe by Toe is very easy to use though it is not the syllable division generally used for the teaching of reading. Once the sound of a phoneme has been taught using the ‘polygons’ (nonsense words), these rules can then be applied to any multi-syllabic word and students find a whole new world of reading opening before their eyes. Volunteers in the school community execute the Toe by Toe program before school and at the very beginning of the day.

Rainbow Reading

The purpose of the programme is to improve reading skills, including fluency and comprehension as well as fostering oracy, listening and the acquisition of new vocabulary. The Rainbow Reading Programme encourages students to take responsibility for their own reading progress as they acquire confidence and independence.  The Rainbow Reading programme is offered in Years Four – Six both in the classroom and some children are offered Rainbow Reading twice a week with a support person.

Stride Ahead

The Stride Ahead support program assists students who can read but experience difficulty in comprehending what they are reading. In decoding what makes up the words written on the page some students find themselves caught up in this process, unable to get a full understanding of the meaning of the words.  Stride Ahead aims to help with this, seeking to lessen the difficulty of decoding and retaining meaning.