Literacy / Numeracy

Literacy

The OLSEL (Oral Language Supporting Early Literacy) Initiative has been introduced during 2015 at Sacred Heart School. It is designed for teachers to incorporate oral language activities into the literacy teaching block on a daily basis because oral language is the basis for all literacy skill acquisition. OLSEL includes four areas and they are;

• Phomemic and Phonological Awareness (the sounds that letters and combinations of letters make)
• Vocabulary Development
• Story Grammar

• Understanding and using longer and more complex sentences

Literacy is taught for 2 hours per day (10 hours per week) in the Foundation / Year 1 and 2 class and 1 and 1/2 hours to 2 hours per day in the Year 3/4/5/6 class (8 hours per week). Reading and Writing lessons are typically taught using the Whole-Small-Whole Approach, which include whole class instruction, small group or individual tasks and concluding with students joining the class group to share and reflect on what they have learnt. Literacy lessons also include spelling and handwriting tasks.

Numeracy

Numeracy is taught for 1 hour per day ( 5 hours per week) in all classes. Numeracy lessons are typically taught using the Whole-Small-Whole Approach, which include whole class instruction, small group or individual tasks and concluding with students joining the class group to share and reflect on what they have learnt. Numeracy lessons also include mental maths (warm up) tasks and times tables activities (Year 2 - 6).