Posted on 29 July 2022
Year 0-3 tamariki at Tākaka Primary School are taking their reading skills to a whole new level thanks to a donation of $5000 from NBS (Nelson Building Society). The donation has allowed the purchase of new, engaging reading materials that are helping the school move towards a new science based approach to learning to read known as Structured Literacy.
Dean Lund, NBS Tākaka Branch Manager, says:
We already have a close relationship with Tākaka Primary School and are pleased to be able to get behind this new approach to teaching our kids to read.”
Prinicipal Corinne Rowe is grateful to NBS and says:
Thanks to NBS we have been able to purchase decodable readers for our tamariki. We now have an amazing collection of awesome reading materials that are pitched to the individual stage of each child’s reading journey.”
Corinne adds “Until very recently, NZ teachers have not been taught the science of how children learn to read. 5 of our teachers attended a two day intensive Professional Development conference with one of Aotearoa’s leading experts in this field, Liz Kane and they came back buzzing with excitement and ready to begin our journey in this area.“
Structured Literacy is an umbrella term used to describe an explicit and sequential literacy approach that teaches all children to read, write and spell with confidence. It uses phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary knowledge, fluency and comprehension. It is an approach that supplements the school’s existing literacy curriculum.
We are extremely fortunate to have the support of NBS to help us get this programme off to a great start.”
Corinne Rowe, Principal, Tākaka Primary School