At St Mary’s, English is a continuing priority and a major component of the curriculum. Students develop the necessary skills, knowledge and understandings to assist them in other areas of the curriculum and to enable them to become confident and contributing participants in the changing world in which they live. English provides students with the tools and strategies to think and act creatively and critically. The English curriculum at St Mary’s aims to engage, support and challenge students as they develop in the areas of Reading and Viewing, Writing, Listening and Speaking.

Teachers use a range of monitoring strategies and assessment tools to make informed decisions about the learning needs of students so that explicit teaching targets the specific skills, knowledge and understandings required for each individual student. Students’ self-evaluation and goal setting is an important component in their development towards becoming competent, articulate and confident users of English. All students are monitored and assessed against the Victorian Curriculum.

English is given high priority at St Mary’s Primary School in terms of staffing, parental involvement, funding, intervention, resources and time allocation. It is a whole school developmental program from Foundation to Year 6.

The English curriculum aims to develop in each student:

• A high level of competency in reading, writing, listening and speaking.
• The ability to confidently speak, listen, read and write for purpose and enjoyment in a wide range of contexts.
• The skills necessary to apply knowledge of the linguistic structures, spelling and punctuation, grammatical, textual and visual features used to construct different texts.
• Skills, knowledge and dispositions that enable them to interpret, comprehend and respond to a variety of textual forms.
• A critical awareness that enables them to transfer, apply and adapt their learnings across other curriculum areas and the world around them.
• An appreciation of how language and literature can enrich their lives.