Literacy
Literacy/English
Literacy is an integral part of how we communicate with others every day. At St Francis Xavier School we aim to provide all students with the opportunity to write with purpose, read for meaning and develop skills for speaking and listening.
English learning and teaching involves developing skills in the following areas:
- Reading and Viewing
- Writing
- Speaking and Listening
The English curriculum aims to ensure that students:
- learn to listen to, read, view, speak, write, create and reflect on increasingly complex and sophisticated spoken, written and multimodal texts across a growing range of contexts with accuracy, fluency and purpose
- appreciate, enjoy and use the English language in all its variations and develop a sense of its richness and power to evoke feelings, convey information, form ideas, facilitate interaction with others, entertain, persuade and argue
- understand how Standard Australian English works in its spoken and written forms and in combination with non-linguistic forms of communication to create meaning
- develop interest and skills in inquiring into the aesthetic aspects of texts, and develop an informed appreciation of literature.
(from Victorian Curriculum - English, https://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/english/introduction/rationale-and-aims, accessed 29/7/2019)
Languages - Italian
Learning languages in addition to English extends student’s literacy repertoires and their capacity to communicate. It strengthens student’s understanding of the nature of language, culture, and the processes of communication.
(from Victorian Curriculum - Languages, https://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/languages/introduction/about-the-languages, accessed 29/7/2019)
Students from Foundation to Year 6 learn Italian four days a week, for 15 minutes per session. With the support of a Language Assistant, students and staff work in pairs and small groups. The focus is on conversations, speaking Italian throughout the day, and in other scenarios.