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Literacy at the ELC
We are well into the swing of our new Literacy program at the ELC – Ready to Read. This is a pilot literacy program for preschoolers that quite a number of Catholic Education Preschools are participating in this year.
We decided to join with this pilot program as we are passionate about supporting students with their emerging literacy skills. These skills have always featured in our program here at St Anthony’s ELC as we are always looking at ways we can immerse students in a rich, play-based literacy environment. In setting up dramatic play areas in our classroom we intentionally include print based play things such as key boards, charts, notebooks, whiteboards, books, and plenty of items to use in recording information in simple ways. Story reading is an important part of our day – and a great way to introduce students to some early concepts about print such as the directionality of written text, the ways illustrations support our understanding of the text, that books have a title and author. We have also always provided experiences that encourage students to explore letters, experiment with writing and opportunities to create simple texts with support.
Embracing the literacy pilot project ‘Ready to Read’ is allowing us to build our skills as teachers and to build students emerging literacy skills in a sequenced way. The program has a big focus on building students spoken language skills – as vocabulary knowledge and an understanding of the way words are ordered (syntax) are strongly correlated to young children’s success as they learn to read.
The literacy program is not just about students knowing the letters of the alphabet or being able to write their name. Instead it is focused on;
- Listening skills – listening to and participating in story reading, rhymes and songs. Answering and asking questions about stories and making links to real world experiences.
- General print awareness – understanding that print conveys a message, awareness of environmental print, knowledge about books and directionality of print
- Phonological awareness – understanding that words are made up of sounds, identifying the first sound in some words
- Alphabet knowledge – recognises some letters, understands that letters represent sounds.
So far this term the students have enjoyed reading ‘Going on a Bear Hunt’, ‘River’ and Rainbow Days. We will try our best to keep you in the loop with the stories we have been reading through our display in the foyer area. Please feel free to look at and explore this display with your child. You could see what they remember about the story and are also very welcome to look at the story book on display with your child.
During our Professional Development focused on the Ready to Read program, we also watched a great TED talk on key thing parents (and educators) can do to support the language acquisition skills and cognitive development of young children. It is a short talk and well worth a listen – a very simple thing all of us can do each day (and probably already do ?) to support young children’s learning. Hope you get a chance to take a look!
https://www.ted.com/talks/molly_wright_how_every_child_can_thrive_by_five
Thank you to those families who have been able to complete & submit the recent permission form for the Preschool local area outings we participate in at our ELC. If you are yet to submit this form, we kindly ask you to please take a moment to complete it now, by following this link.
As always, please contact us if you have any questions. Thank you.
Preschool Photos - 25th & 26th March (orders can be made after photos have been taken)
Birrigai Excursion - Term 2 Week 1 (further details to come)
Open Days for Kindy 2026 -
St Anthony's Parish Primary School
Saturday 3rd May, 10am-12pm
St Thomas the Apostle Catholic Primary School
Saturday 3rd May, 9am-11am
Wednesday 14th May, 9:30am - 5:30pm.
Our Preschool open days for 2026 - spread the word!
Saturday 3rd May, 10am-12pm
Thursday 15th May, 4:30pm - 6pm
Did you know we have a seperate menu for our Preschool children when ordering a lunch order for your child? All lunch order items need to be chosen from our ELC Menu and the other items & meal deals are not options for our students. Our ELC menu is modified and offers slightly less to ensure that our younger students continue to eat a healthy and well balanced diet whilst at PReschool, however still offering the ability to enjoy the excitement of a lunch order.
The menu and ordering system is via QKR! and is titled Early Learning Centre Lunch Menu.
Any ‘special’ lunches throughout the year will also be available for our Pre-schooler’s adn we will advertise these in our e-Newsletter and through Xplor.
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to Keeley, Violet, Olivia J & Bryce,
Happy Birthday to you!
!Hip Hip Hooray!
