Literacy at EEPS

At Eltham East Primary School, students develop strong foundational literacy skills through a structured Literacy Block, tailored to each year level while maintaining key common elements. This includes explicit instruction in phonics (word reading and spelling), reading fluency, handwriting, and sentence-level writing. Reading and language comprehension are developed through a range of rich, authentic texts, and students are explicitly taught to plan, draft, and refine texts across various genres, strengthening their technical skills and confidence as writers.

Our reading approach is guided by the Big 6 of Reading, which provides a strong foundation in the essential components of reading development. In Prep to Year 2, students are taught using systematic synthetic phonics, a structured approach that explicitly teaches the relationship between sounds and letters to support word reading and spelling. Through explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, and decoding, students gradually progress to more complex texts. Decodable readers and authentic texts help build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, while writing lessons develop handwriting, sentence construction, and foundational writing skills, with a strong emphasis on oral language development.

As students move into Years 3 to 6, they deepen their understanding of spelling patterns, morphology, and etymology while continuing to strengthen their reading fluency and comprehension. Writing lessons focus on paragraph and text structures, enabling students to create detailed and cohesive texts across a range of genres. Grammar, syntax, and speaking and listening activities further refine their literacy skills, ensuring they develop confidence and competence as readers and writers.