We Love Reading!

A Consistent Approach to Fostering a Love of Reading from Prep to Year 2

Reading is an essential skill that children must learn to be successful during schooling and later life. The better children can read, the easier it will be for them to learn.  Did you know that:

• 50% of written text is vowel sounds?
• Vowel sounds are made up of 86 letter combinations, none of which can be sounded out phonetically. Each letter combination can make up to 10 different sounds.
• The remaining 50% is made up of consonant sounds.
• 95% can be sounded out phonetically BUT… add to this many confusing and often incorrect spelling “rules” – for example, “i” before “e” except after “c” only works 25% of the time!

I Love Reading (ILR) is founded on over 30 years of research that looked at the complexities, listened to sounds, explored language and developed a system for decoding the English language. It combines proven, evidence-based literacy methods with a fresh approach to teaching phonics that encourages children to progress from learning to read to reading to learn.

The Year 1 team, who were trained in ILR earlier this year, is enjoying teaching the main twenty-two vowel sounds this term through a range of hands-on experiences.  These experiences have resulted in numerous quality discussions about sounds and their articulation. Such quality discussions and experiences are what create the connections within these young brains, helping them to remember, as well as enjoy the process.  We look forward to sharing more about I Love Reading with you at a Parent Information Night in Term 4, in preparation for a full roll out in all Prep to Year 2 classes in 2020.

Anne-Maree Kingston
Director of Innovation and Learning – Lower Primary

Year 1 are “one”derful!

What an amazingly fun Term 3 we have had. Throughout the past few weeks we have continued to blow our teachers away with how incredible we are and how quickly we are learning new things. Year 1 have been lucky enough to begin our new literacy program I Love Reading and have loved every minute of it. As part of the program, we have welcomed some new characters into our Year 1 family. These characters will be popping their heads up and around the Primary School helping us learn, helping us think and helping us respond.

Miss Quokka is all about feeling it. Connecting our head and our heart. Miss Quokka never quits. She is a perfect addition to our classrooms as she helps us question things.  She encourages us to work and think independently and conquers any challenge.

This investigator is the face of ILR- Curious Clyde. He is all about sharing what he knows and connecting the clues. Clyde always searches for answers, seeks clues, listens for sounds, always wants to know more, engages in learning and loves to help his friends learn too.

Sneaky Sam is a personal favourite of Year 1. He is all about working it. Connecting with what is correct. He mixes things up to check your understanding. Sneaky Sam likes to play tricks on people both in their classrooms and in the texts they read.

Gopher Green is a smart little cookie who is all about thinking it. He connects problem solving with personal experiences. Gopher Green always solves problems with creativity and helps us think creatively and out of the box.

Critical thinking skills in Year 1 are so much fun!

Ashleigh Quinn 
Year 1 Classroom Teacher
Year 1 Innovation and Learning Leader