Reading is the skill that opens everything else up. A child who reads well has access to mathematics, science, history and the arts in ways that a struggling reader does not. At THPS, the teaching of reading and writing is a whole-school priority.
In Foundation to Year 2, children learn the sounds that make up spoken English, how those sounds connect to letters and words, and how to use that knowledge to read and spell. This is taught in a careful, systematic sequence so that every child develops a reliable set of tools they can apply to any word they encounter.
From Year 3 onwards, the focus moves toward reading to learn. Students work with richer and more complex texts, develop their vocabulary and comprehension, and build the writing skills they will use across all areas of school and beyond.
Foundation to Year 2
Phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, handwriting, early writing and vocabulary. Children learn the structure of written English in a carefully ordered sequence.
Years 3 to 6
Reading comprehension, vocabulary, morphology, writing composition and fluency. Students build on their early foundations to become capable and confident readers and writers.
Writing
Writing is taught systematically, beginning at sentence level and building progressively to longer composition. We focus on clarity and structure before style.