Literacy is a person’s ability to listen to, read, view, speak, write, create and reflect on spoken, written and multimodal texts across a range of contexts. At Bayside SDS, our literacy teaching and learning programs are based on the Comprehensive Literacy for All model, and structured teaching approaches based on the Science of Reading. We know that progress in literacy skills increases each student’s ability to engage with their broader curriculum, develops their communicative competence, and supports their growing independence and self-confidence at school, at home and in the community.

Comprehensive Literacy for All supports the learning needs of all our students, from learners with emergent reading and writing abilities, to those engaging with more conventional literacy instruction. In addition, the program recognises the critical link between literacy and language development, and effectively integrates literacy learning with the use of school based and individualised augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems and supports. Our Shared Reading lessons support students to engage with a class text and make connections to the characters, settings and events encountered. Teachers plan and provide opportunities for student participation, using their preferred communication method, through open questions and multimodal activities that promote comprehension and learning of new vocabulary. The Writing program supports each student to explore a variety of writing tools (e.g. handwriting, reduced alphabet/multi-sensory alphabet resources, traditional and modified keyboards – including eye gaze enabled) to identify those that are most effective and efficient for them. Writing curriculum at Bayside SDS not only supports development of letter-sound knowledge and use of language, it has an explicit focus on student engagement and building each student’s sense of themselves as a writer.

The Science of Reading places emphasis on the roles that phonemic and phonological awareness play in learning to read and write. At Bayside SDS, we support students to learn to connect letters with their name and most common sound. From here, students can progress to using the Fast Phonics program that enables the explicit and systematic teaching of increasingly complex letter-sound correspondences. Fast Phonics is a research based, online synthetic phonics program, utilising explicit, structured, and highly engaging interactive activities that support students to practise key phonics skills. These skills are practised and applied through the reading of decodable books that use only the letter-sound correspondences that have been learned so far – with level one requiring knowledge of just four letter sounds. Use of decodable books avoids students guessing words, builds their confidence and reinforces the phonics skills they have learned so far.

At Bayside SDS, teachers build a positive climate for literacy learning through informative assessments of student abilities, individualised supports, application of high impact teaching strategies and collaboration with school-based therapists and specialists. Teachers plan programs to build student confidence and provide multiple opportunities for success through personalised learning experiences.