At Port Fairy Consolidated School we pride ourselves on implementing research based teaching and learning practices because we believe vital literacy skills are necessary for life- long learning in the 21st century.

We believe that to ensure all students succeed and thrive we need to use the Science of Reading, evidence-based teaching approach. This approach is an Explicit and systematic teaching of fundamental knowledge that provides the best possible environment for all students to develop the ability to read, write and understand the rules that govern the English language.

We offer a program that promotes skill development in Reading and Viewing, Speaking, Listening and Writing in a supportive and stimulating environment. Planning is based on the Victorian Curriculum and is supported by best practices around literacy acquisition. Our teachers plan in teams so that individual student needs are catered for.

Our structured reading and writing approach includes all the components of the Big 6:
oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.
• Explicit teaching of phonological awareness and phonics (Sounds Write)
• Automaticity training in the recognition of irregular words (heart words)
• Guided practice to improve fluency, the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression
• Vocabulary development, providing essential background knowledge for reading and writing.
• Structured morphology from Foundation to Grade 6
• Explicit teaching of comprehension strategies (STARS)
• Explicit teaching of Spelling Rules(Spelling Mastery)
• Grammar, a whole school approach that allows students to gain knowledge and understandings of functional Australian English

Literacy support at Port Fairy Consolidated School is our priority and a social equity issue. We have introduced the Response to Intervention (RTI) model, a multi-tiered approach to learning instruction. In Tier 2 intervention, we can differentiate instruction and target specific skills for struggling learners. Our school provides:
• Tier 1 whole-class instruction using evidence-based instruction.
• Tier 2 support in small group sessions for students identified as at risk to supplement skill-building.

Reading for enjoyment and knowledge acquisition is important at PFCS. Students have access to decodable texts that they can practice at school and home. These readers allow students to practice the sound-spelling relationships and use the decoding skills taught in phonic lessons. Our school library and classroom libraries are stocked with a range of current exciting books, our involvement with Book club provides ongoing up to date books for students to access easily. We are developing a Humanities scope and sequence from Foundation to Grade 6 that is a knowledge rich curriculum to build our students depth and breadth of content knowledge by embedding history, geography, civics, citizenship and emotional literacy through Respectful Relationships and the Resilience Project.