Engagement in Literacy

I am sure that many of you grew up with books, with storytelling and reading a bedtime ritual.  Bookcases may have been bursting with Enid Blyton (that’s showing my age!), The Hardy Boys and the like. Books were easy to access and often reread over and over. Studies clearly show that reading with children, from a young age, improves literacy development, vocabulary, models fluency and also provides a time for the child and reader to ask curious questions and to bond. If you were to visit any preschool or kindergarten classroom, you’d surely find that shared book reading is a common activity used to facilitate discussions and support a young child’s language and literacy development. Taking the time to invest in a child’s literacy will pay dividends in the long term as literacy and academic success are highly correlated. Literacy development is not only for young children either and reading often and widely is encouraged.

Over the last few weeks students have been exposed to a range of literacy-focused programs and competitions such as visiting authors, Book Week, the Book Fair, ‘Write a Book in a Day’ and the Readers Cup, which of course complement the literacy programs which occur every day in the classroom. I would encourage parents to partner with the College in fostering a love and engagement of all types of literature.

Nichola Welsh 
Head of Teaching and Learning (P-12)