• Curriculum Framework
• Early Childhood Schools
• Curriculum Programs
• Literacy and Numeracy
  • Early Literacy and Numeracy Officers (ELNO)
  • English as a Second Language (ESL)
  • Indigenous Literacy and Numeracy
  • Language for Understanding Across the Curriculum (LUAC)
  • Learning Assistance
  • Literacy
  • National Literacy and Numeracy Week (NLNW)
  • Numeracy
  • Parents as Tutors Program
  • An Even Start
  • Professional Development Overview
• Professional Learning
• Assessment and Reporting
• Chief Minister's Reading Challenge

What is Literacy? 
Professional Development to Support Literacy
Chief Ministers Reading Challenge

What is literacy?

Literacy is viewed as a flexible group of skills and strategies that are closely linked to context and purpose.  Contemporary views of literacy have moved beyond simple print literacy to encompass notions of active citizenship, new communications practices and information technologies, critical thinking and linguistic and cultural diversity.  The multiplicity of literacy practices has led many educators to use the plural terms ‘literate practices’ and ‘multiliteracies’ to emphasise the diverse ways that we use the non-verbal, spoken, print, visual and multimodal communications practices of the world in which we live.

One definition of literacy agreed to by State and Federal ministers (MCEETYA) in 1997 is:

Literacy is the ability to read and write and use written information and to write appropriately in a range of contexts. It also involves the integration of speaking, listening, viewing and critical thinking with reading and writing, and includes the cultural knowledge which enables a speaker, writer or reader to recognise and use language appropriate to different social situations.

Professional Development to Support Literacy

First Steps

First Steps are internationally researched programs, developed by the Education Department of Western Australia and Edith Cowan University. They provide teacher professional development and pedagogical strategies to support literacy development in primary schools. High schools may find some strategies useful in addressing literacy development of their students (also see Stepping Out and Tactical Teaching below). A distinctive feature of First Steps programs is the maps of development. The maps outline the progression a child makes through phases in each of four aspects of literacy: Spelling; Writing; Reading and Oral Language. Resources then provide teachers with a range of strategies to assist individual students to progress along the maps of development. First Steps processes and strategies support the Balanced Literacy Program approach used in ACT schools.

The teacher is able to assess student ability by using a number of key indicators. The First Steps materials provide the teacher with appropriate strategies and activities to assist the child to progress through each phase along the map of development. These strategies and activities were gathered by the First Steps developers from successful classroom practice around the world.

The Literacy and Numeracy team organise professional development in Writing and Reading. Courses are offered each term at the Centre for Teaching and Learning, Stirling in at least one component of First Steps. These are designed for teachers who are new to the system or who would like a refresher course.

Schools may request whole school professional development in order to develop cohesive practices across the school.

For more information please contact the Literacy and Numeracy Team on
(02) 6205 8291 or email.

BEE Spelling

BEE Spelling is an innovative spelling program based on recent international and national research. It has built on historical elements from both the traditional and transitional perspectives of spelling. This approach effectively looks at how we can plan and teach spelling to meet the diverse needs of the children in our classrooms. Through the use of a sound assessment tool (a spelling inventory) we are able to determine the instructional level for each student.

Stepping Out – Writing

Stepping Out Writing is also a program developed by First Steps in Western Australia. It supports the development of student literacy practices, in particular writing, across the secondary curriculum.

Stepping Out provides practical support for school leaders and teachers to design whole school strategies for improving literary learning across all KLAs. This course enables teachers to:

• be aware of the language demands of their KLA
• analyse student literacy needs and
• use a range of literacy and learning strategies to improve student learning.

Stepping Out consists of 6 non sequential workshops of about 2 hours each. Workshops focus on strategies to build spelling, subject specific vocabulary and report writing.

This professional development is for middle school and high school teachers. It consists of 2 X 2 hour workshops.

Tactical Teaching

Tactical Teaching is a First steps program designed to help teachers across all curriculum areas in middle and high school settings maximize the use of speaking and listening in the teaching and learning of subject specific curriculum material.
Workshop topics include:

• Getting More Bang for Your Blah – Promoting Effective Listening
• Harnessing Hot Air – Making Students Talk Work
• Note-taking and Note-making – The Power Platform of Speaking and Listening.

Workshops are delivered by facilitators and are generally about 2 hours long. Whole school professional development can be delivered in order to develop cohesive pedagogical practices across the school or workshops may be delivered at the Centre for Teaching and Learning, Stirling.

For more information please contact the Literacy and Numeracy Team on
(02) 6205 8291 or email.