SPELD NSW welcomes the news from Sarah Mitchell, the NSW Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning that Decodable Readers will be given every kindergarten class in New South Wales public primary schools.
The news announced this week is just one of a number of initiatives from the NSW Department of Education to support structured literacy with explicit and systematic teaching of phonics within the early years. Decodable Readers support teachers to implement the systematic teaching of phonics and help students becoming effective readers.
“This is such a great investment from the NSW Department of Education in supporting evidence-based reading instruction in all our public schools. Decodable readers are an essential tool for students learning to read and support schools in implementing evidence-based reading instruction so that ALL our students learn to read,” said Georgina Perry, Executive Officer SPELD NSW.
The 2021 school year began with an announcement that phonics is now mandated for all NSW primary school students, heralding a new era of research-based evidence required for all literacy programs.
“SPELD NSW members and supporters have advocated for many years for the implementation of evidence-based literacy instruction for students with specific learning difficulties. These initiatives will support all children. … If every child is taught by systematic synthetic phonics as the foundation for a curriculum filled with literature rich in vocabulary and complex thought then our students with specific learning difficulties will have a greater chance of gaining strong literacy in their Kindergarten to Year 2 years,” said Rhonda Filmer Chair SPELD NSW.
The decodable readers that public schools will receive include books from Little Learners Love Literacy and Decodable Readers Australia.
SPELD NSW stocks a fantastic selection of Decodable Readers for schools, professionals and families to complement this initiative. These can be purchased directly from SPELD NSW online store and includes an exciting and informative range of Intervention and Catchup Readers for older students.
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