The Allan Labor Government is making best practice common practice in the Education State with Victoria’s Phonics Plus program setting up our youngest students for life-long reading success.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Ben Carroll last week visited Reservoir Primary School to announce the release new English Lesson plans, including Phonics Plus lesson plans, to support the delivery of the state’s revised English curriculum.
The Labor Government has mandated that all students from Prep to Grade 2 will be taught using a systematic synthetic phonics approach as part of their reading programs, with a minimum of 25 minutes daily explicit teaching of phonics and phonemic awareness.
The English lesson plans help primary and secondary students build their vocabulary, read increasingly complex fiction and non-fiction texts, and strengthen their spelling, grammar, punctuation and syntax.
The new Phonics Plus lesson plans, developed by teachers, will help reduce teacher workloads so they can spend less time preparing lessons and more time engaging with students. The Year 1 Phonics Check takes about 10 minutes, compared to the current 40 minutes per student, saving teachers approximately 12 hours in assessments.
Schools have indicated a strong demand for more professional learning and resources, with 8,200 downloads of Victorian Lesson Plans since February.
Announced in October last year, the program is already an essential part of Reservoir Primary School’s literacy learning and is helping Prep students make meaningful connections with letters and sounds.
Reservoir Primary School’s Prep teachers use Phonics Plus to introduce different letter/sound relationships to their class.
Quotes attributable to Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Ben Carroll
“The new evidence-based, ready-to-use Phonics Plus lesson plans will reduce teacher workloads so they can spend more time engaging with students and setting them up for life-long success.”
“With more English lesson plans on the way, and the excellent work of teachers who are implementing Phonics Plus, we are ensuring Victorian students get the best start to their education.”
Quotes attributable to Reservoir Primary School principal Carolyn Bamberg
“Since implementing Phonics Plus this year, we are already seeing great results in the writing skills of our youngest students.”
“Teachers love the program, and it is giving students the literacy skills that are known to reduce the risk of poor life satisfaction into adulthood.”
“Literacy gives students the ability to navigate the complexities of the world, and we have a great moral imperative to make sure they have the right skills to thrive by the time they’re ready to transition into secondary education.”