Striving for Academic Excellence
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Literacy
TALK FOR WRITING
Leschenault Catholic Primary School uses Talk For Writing in its whole-school approach to teaching written expression. Our aim is to develop written language skills by providing rich and meaningful oral literacy experiences.
Talk For Writing is a process that uses spoken activities to develop students’ writing skills. Quality writing is created by focusing on oral language skills, expanding upon using visual cues and then teaching the important steps for sentence, paragraph and text construction.
We begin by hooking the student’s imaginations and inspiring a passion for writing by empowering students with unique and creative writing tools. Talk for Writing supports students to apply their skills in a variety of contexts, enabling them to become more confident and independent writers.
As a result of this program, students have won writing competitions and had their short stories published.
TALK FOR READING
Acquiring reading comprehension is learning to understand written language as well as one understands the spoken language. At Leschenault Catholic Primary School, we believe that strong writing skills are fed by good reading habits. The Talk for Reading process teaches reading comprehension in a clear and logical sequence. This process is based on whole class modelling and shared reading, as well as effective guided and independent reading practices, in order to examine and explore high-quality written texts. The School Literature Spine, which our teachers read from, supports Talk for Reading, exposing our students to exceptionally written texts.
PreLit and Initia-Lit (Kindergarten – Year 2)
Pre-Lit (Kindergarten) is a systematic, skills-based program that lays a sound foundation for children to learn to read. It provides early childhood teachers with the tools necessary to teach pre-literacy skills and concepts in a fun and engaging way, focusing on phonological awareness and oral language development through structured storybook reading.
InitiaLit (Pre-primary- Year 2) is an evidence-based whole-class literacy program providing all children with the essential core knowledge and strong foundations to become successful readers and writers. InitiaLit is a three-year program, covering the first three years of school.
Heggerty Phonemic Awareness (Kindy – Year 2)
The Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Curriculum is a systematic 35-week program of daily lesson plans that provide a high level of explicit modelling and student engagement. Each level of the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Curriculum focuses on eight phonemic awareness skills, along with two additional activities to develop letter and sound recognition and language awareness. The Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Curriculum is also designed to work alongside existing structured synthetic phonics programs and is a great way to build up the phonological skills of our early readers. It is implemented in all K-2 classrooms each day.
Spelling Mastery Year 3-6)
Students in Years 3 to 6 participate in daily Spelling Mastery lessons.
Spelling Mastery builds dependable spelling skills for students in grades 3-6 through a highly structured direct instruction method that blends the following approaches:
Phonemic approach
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Helps beginning spellers learn the relationships between spoken sounds and written letters and then apply them to spelling
Morphemic approach
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Exposes advanced spellers to prefixes, bases, and suffixes
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Combine words and word parts to spell multisyllabic words using a small number of reliable rules
Whole-word approach
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Gives spellers at all levels the meaning and root of a word and shows how the word’s spelling is influenced
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Spell common, high-frequency words which are irregular in their letter sounds
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Commit these potentially troublesome words to memory
Spelling Mastery interweaves these three approaches according to students’ skill development. To determine the students’ level a placement test is conducted prior to the commencement of the program. Students will then be grouped accordingly and attend a lesson from 9-9.30am every morning. This group will include students from across Years 3-6 who are also at this level.
Explicit instruction, careful selection of spelling words, and repeated and cumulative practice help students master each concept and reinforce and retain key information.
Numeracy
Origo Stepping Stones program is used explicitly and with fidelity in our Year 2-6 classes. This explicit instructional approach builds on students’ natural ability to develop understanding and number sense. It helps students avoid misconceptions and promotes confidence with efficient thinking strategies. Games and practical applications help to cement the concepts and skills.
Top 10 Maths program is used in Pre-Primary and in Year One. The program incorporates sequential lessons that are hands-on and open-ended and aims to build solid mathematical foundations.
Educational Support
We have a comprehensive support program to assist students who are not making the expected gains in Literacy. Students are selected for intervention programs using standard assessments and participation in the program requires parental support. Intervention sessions occur Tuesday-Friday 8:15am-9:00am
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Mini-Lit Sage(Yr1-2): provides explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, systematic synthetic phonics for reading and spelling, letter formation, and connected text reading. The program has also been revised to align with the scope and sequence of InitiaLit (our Literacy Program for PP-2).
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MacqLit (Yr 3-6) is an explicit and systematic reading intervention program for small groups of older low-progress readers. It provides teachers with a comprehensive sequence of lessons that includes all the key components necessary for effective reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
Extra Curricular
CENTURION CLUB
Centurians Club: Students who are strong in mind and willing to achieve are encouraged to participate in our running program on Wednesday and Friday mornings from 8am – 8.25am. Each year we have students around our school that become known as Centurions. To be granted this title takes effort, determination, sweat and a willingness to persevere.
The Centurian Club meets on the school courts to stretch at 8am Wednesday and Friday where a 400-metre track has been marked out. Participants cover as many laps as they can in a session by running, walking, crawling, etc. If you miss a session it is not a big deal, you can attend when it suits you.
The student participants are rewarded as they achieve distances in 10km increments. The goal is to cover 100km in the year and become a Leschenault Centurion. This is easily achievable with 4 laps a session and close to achievable with 3 laps. At the end of each term, Centurion hats are collected and the Centurion Badge is added to the student’s hat.
The club has two major sponsors McDonald’s Eaton and Slater and Gartrell Sports. These sponsors are responsible for prizes at the 10km intervals as well as major rewards for those staying on task. Beyond 100km there are Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates handed out on Friday morning line up and the recognition of Double Centurion (200km) is also a great celebration.
There are those who take it to the next level and have their names added to a Centurion Shield that is on display in the Office. This is for those runners that cover 250km in the year. They are also presented with a trophy and voucher from Slater and Gartrell at the Centurion Shield assembly at the end of the year.
The best part about the Centurion Club is that we are encouraging parents to participate as well. That’s right, you can cheer, walk, run, sprint, and crawl along with your child, or children, as they attempt to achieve their goal. Unfortunately, only LCPS students in Years 1 – 6 can receive awards, but you can encourage them in their journey, right by their side if you so choose.
In the event of inclement weather, Centurions is cancelled and parents are notified via Seesaw, these sessions will be made up when the weather permits. Sports clothing encouraged for participants. If your child has MultiLit commitments at 8.15am they are permitted to commence running from 7.50am and are then responsible for attending their lessons from 8.15am.
If you have any questions, please direct them toward Mr Dudek.
Wellbeing
As a learning community, L.C.P.S recognises our moral purpose is to build a C.H.R.I.S.T centred community that inspires every individual to think, to learn and to strive for academic excellence. Underpinning this it is imperative that support structures are in place to enable each member to “have life in abundance” (John 10:10)
At L.C.P.S children and staff participate in Christian Meditation at least three times a week. This allows our bodies and minds to relax and become focused before beginning work. We take the time to observe our thoughts, body states and emotions which allows regulation and increased attention.
Our wellness levels increase when we are using our Character Strengths, focus on gratitude and take regular brain breaks. Incorporating these into our day helps us maintain and increase a positive sense of self and wellbeing.
The values of Jesus become a central part of the wellbeing plan at L.C.P.S allowing students and teachers to maintain a positive state of wellbeing in the context of a Catholic School.
Our Catholic Faith and Religion
At LCPS, children are welcomed into a caring and stimulating environment where educators give witness to Catholic beliefs, values and attitudes. Our CHRIST Values guide the way we live and act together.
Children have a natural spirituality and an awareness of God. The wonder of life begins long before their formal schooling.
Parents are the first faith educators of their children. Catholic schools support parents in their children’s faith formation by providing a range of experiences. These experiences nurture and develop each child’s sense of wonder in God’s presence and creation. This contributes to the lifelong process of developing their faith and religious knowledge.
In early years classes each child is invited to interact with an environment rich in learning opportunities. Spiritual, social and emotional growth are fostered as children learn about God’s love for them as they show respect and care for others. Children have tremendous potential for growth. Their God-given imagination and contemplative minds are eager for stimulation. In a warm, caring, risk-free environment in which educators witness Catholic beliefs, values and attitudes young children are encouraged to develop a positive image of themselves and others as they begin to live the Gospel message.
As children participate in the early years of learning in Catholic schools, they experience a growing sense of belonging and community from the common vision of their family, school, parish and wider groups. The Catholic school enables students to develop an understanding of themselves, their relationships with others and their knowledge of God’s love for them and their response to the love of God.
| Religious Education |
Mandated Resource |
| Playgroup & Pre-Kindy | Sharing stories of Jesus |
| Kindergarten |
Let the Little Children Come to Me: CEWA
The aim of this Resource ‘Let the Little Children Come to Me’ is to help young children know of God’s great love and presence through providing and promoting an atmosphere where ‘God talk’ permeates all learning experiences as a natural part of the whole day.
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| Pre-Primary- Year 6 |
CEWA RE Curriculum PP-6
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Student Wellbeing Officer
Our Student Wellbeing Officer, Miss Denise Hegarty, is available on Wednesdays and
Thursdays to provide emotional and wellbeing support to students, staff and families. If you
feel that your child/ren need support, please contact your child’s classroom teacher or the
office. Students can be referred to the Wellbeing Officer by a parent/caregiver or teacher.
The school requires a referral form signed by a parent/caregiver. These forms are available
from the office. Miss Hegarty can be contacted via email: denise.hegarty@cewa.edu.au