Literacy

Literacy

At Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School, we are committed to supporting all students in the development of literacy skills and knowledge as they grow to become competent and confident communicators.

All our students develop their understandings and skills in all areas of the English curriculum in order to fully participate in the modern world as active, and engaged citizens who appreciate and enjoy the English language, using it proficiently.

At Holy Trinity, the English Curriculum is based on the Victorian Curriculum 2.0 and includes the areas of Speaking and Listening, Reading and Viewing, and Writing. Students are engaged in rich and meaningful learning experiences with consistency of practice evident from Foundation to Year Six.

Features of the Literacy program

From Foundation to Year Six:

• a daily two-hour Literacy block for all learners
• explicit attention to student needs through Focussed Teaching Groups
• borrowing from the school library once a week
• integration of digital resources such as ipads, ChromeBooks and Smart TVs 

    Foundation and Year One:

• Implementation of the InitiaLit F and InitiaLit 1 programs. InitiaLit 2 to be introduced in 2026. InitiaLit is an evidence-based whole-class literacy program which aims to provide all children with the essential core knowledge and strong foundations to become successful readers and writers. It incorporates a synthetic approach to the teaching of phonics alongside a rich literature and vocabulary component.

      In addition to the above, our students from Foundation to Year Two:

• Have take-home reading books
• Learning Support Officers in each Foundation class during the daily Literacy Block

Assessment

At Holy Trinity, a variety of monitoring and assessment tools are used to identify student learning needs and to inform the planning and implementation of teaching and learning experiences. Assessment is ongoing, supporting students at all stages of their learning in order to maximise their growth across all areas of the English curriculum.

The Literacy Leader facilitates weekly professional development sessions to ensure that current research and best practice across the English curriculum is explored, trialled and implemented as appropriate for our community and for each classroom.

Intervention and Support Programs at Holy Trinity

• MiniLit Sage 

MiniLit Sage is a Tier 2 literacy  intervention program implemented in our early years. It is a small group intervention program which aims to provide students who require additional support to further develop their reading skills. The program provides explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, systematic synthetic phonics for reading and spelling, letter formation, and connected text reading.

• Levelled Literacy Intervention

Across year levels 4 – 5 as required, this small group reading comprehension program is delivered by trained staff and teachers, who support student learning according to the identified needs of the group.