“We really struggled to make progress with Grace’s reading,” explains Donna, a parent from Andale School.
“We spent hundreds of hours practicing sight words, running backwards and forwards to speech therapy and completing additional worksheets, but nothing seemed to stick. However, since the introduction of a new literacy approach at Andale, we’ve seen Grace’s reading improve in leaps and bounds.”
“In 2019, Andale School undertook a comprehensive review of their literacy curriculum and introduced Macquarie University’s MultiLit program. A comprehensive, evidence-based program that focuses on explicit and systematic teaching of decoding skills,” explains speech pathologist Heather Roper.
“Even within a small specialist school like Andale, our students vary widely in their reading skills. Students who need additional reading support now have four MultiLit sessions per week. In combination with our other teaching strategies, like the widespread use of decodable readers, we’ve seen significant literacy progress for our students.
“Decodable books focus on a specific sound or phonetic code that a student is learning and gradually incorporates an increasing number of irregular sight words.”
Andale’s parents have noticed the shift, and Donna is delighted.
“Over the last 18 months, we’ve seen great progress in Grace’s literacy. She can read independently, and the books she brings home engage her and reinforce what she is learning at Andale. Her confidence has improved and she now loves reading.”
Andale School is a specialist primary school in Kew, for students experiencing language and learning difficulties. With only three classes and a maximum student capacity of 32, each student has an individual learning plan tailored to their unique learning needs.
