Evatt Primary School Kindergarten teacher Hannah Leake assists a student during a phonics session. Photos: Ian Bushnell.
Funding for the first phase of the literacy and numeracy teaching reforms in ACT public schools will go towards decodable readers and other evidence-informed resources for Kindergarten to Year 2 classes.
Education Minister Yvette Berry has announced $700,000 in grants for all public primary schools so they can equip themselves for the start of the 2025 school year.
Ms Berry made the announcement at Evatt Primary School, which has already implemented a synthetic phonics program.
The grants range from $5000 to $19,000, depending on the size of the school. The resources will be sourced from the Australian Government’s Literacy and Numeracy hubs.
Mr Berry said the Strong Foundations program stemming from this year’s literacy and numeracy inquiry would be phased in over four years, but older students in need of help would receive a range of supports, including group and one-on-one coaching.
“I’ve heard from parents concerned that their students who might be in higher years of primary school or high school have missed out and need additional support,” she said.
Ms Berry stressed the importance of not rushing the reform program as had happened in Victoria, where it failed to take.
“We know we have to start in the early years to get it right so that it can be rolled through the system in a consistent way,” she said.
However, all teachers across the years will be trained in explicit teaching starting next year.
Mr Berry said schools and teachers were at different stages of adoption, with some like Evatt well down the path and others only just beginning.
Year 1 Phonics has already been rolled out to 30 schools this year.
“We want to make sure that as we’re phasing it through, we have everybody enthusiastically embracing a new method of education,” she said.
“For some, it’s just tweaking or honing their craft, and for others, it will be something that they’ve been doing for a long time and then can offer support to other teachers who are needing to learn this different method coming through the system.”
Evatt Primary principal Michael Hatswell and Education Minister Yvette Berry: The results show that the new methods are working.
Ms Berry said the goal was to have a consistent approach and methods across the system.
The Directorate will be taking an inventory of explicit teaching resources in all schools to ensure they all have what they need.
New teachers will face training immediately, and it will be provided as needed for existing teachers.
Ms Berry said the University of Canberra would also be involved in preparing teachers for explicit teaching in ACT schools.
The government was also working with the inquiry’s expert panel, which had advised it on how to introduce the changes.
Evatt Primary principal Michael Hatswell said his school had been teaching the phonics program and using decodable readers for some years and the results, collected by the school and the Directorate, showed they worked.
Mr Hatswell said that gave teachers and parents confidence in the classroom changes.
“At the end of the day, knowing that it’s evidence-based and works if you start from that perspective, you’re a long way in front,” he said.
“If you’re doing things that you have seen someone else do that you’re not sure if it works or not, you’re probably a bit behind the eight ball there, but we know it works.”
He said the new funding would enhance the school’s resources and help teachers teach in a better way.
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