Literacy

At Livingstone, we are passionate about developing lifelong readers, writers, speakers and listeners who think and communicate critically, creatively and collaboratively. Developing these skills in our students supports them in being active citizens within their community, now and in the future. 

All students across the school are taught reading and writing through a consistent and evidence-based approach, supported by the Livingstone PS Teaching and Learning Model as well as our Literacy Scope and Sequence document. These documents promote the use of High Impact Teaching Strategies(HITS), developed by Professor John Hattie and endorsed by the Department of Education & Training. Strategies, such as supporting students to set challenging but achievable learning goals, the provision of explicit and differentiated teaching, along with effective questioning and feedback, enable the development of independent and self-motivated learners. A gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student (“I do, We do, You do”) takes place through a structured sequence of interrelated stages and scaffolded activities. This approach equips students with the necessary skills to become confident, innovative and independent readers, writers, speakers and listeners. 

The delivery of a differentiated literacy program by our teachers is informed by ongoing student assessment data and programming in line with the Victorian Curriculum. Literacy assessment of student learning is derived through a range of strategies such as teacher observations and questioning, student led conferences, work samples and formalised assessment pieces.