At Mornington Park we believe students need to be able to read, write, talk, listen and think critically in order to access written, visual and technologically based information in all areas of society. Being confident and competent with literacy is vital to achievement in all areas of learning and we aim to do this through a broad range of activities and teaching methods that cater for all children. This belief underpins all of the literacy learning that occurs at Mornington Park.  

We believe that speaking and listening is a vital part of literacy that goes hand in hand with reading and writing. At Mornington Park, oral language is embedded across all areas of the curriculum. We develop confidence in speaking and listening by giving children a variety of opportunities for public speaking, questioning, collaboration, debating, singing, plays and performance. Our focus is on building vocabulary, composition, fluency, articulation, confidence and self-esteem.

Our literacy sessions incorporate all essential components of the Science of Reading, including phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension, while also using effective assessment practices to inform and improve instruction. Little Learners Loves Literacy (LLLL) is implemented throughout our F-2 classes, and this evidence based synthetic phonics program fosters a strong foundation in literacy for our students. Spelling Mastery is used consistently in every Year 3-6 classroom. This program is an explicit teaching approach to improve students’ spelling skills, with a focus on mastery. It encourages active participation from students, enabling them to put the rules of spelling into their long term memory and then recall and activate in context. 

As the students' skill set develops they will be taught to write for different needs, such as to persuade, inform, entertain and instruct. Literacy lessons focus on the development of vocabulary, punctuation, sentence structure, organisation, presentation, conventions, developing ideas and a writer’s voice.

Here at Mornington Park we pride ourselves on our well-resourced classroom libraries that are filled with high quality, age appropriate literature for children to access and learn from.  The joy in seeing children read for pleasure cannot be undervalued.