October 2008

Hello

Hope all is well and that you all enjoyed the recent break. The final term is a busy time in schools and we understand the pressures of assessing, teaching, reporting and stocktaking resources that all occurs within the seemingly short timeframe of the term. Many will be awaiting notification of transfer and to those we send our best wishes.

We'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you to our first ever industry newsletter. It is our latest initiative to keep you informed about what we have been doing and an opportunity to let you know about happenings in literacy that may be of interest to you.

In this issue we look at:

• recently published standards of literacy in Australia
• literacy resources - big discounts!
• complete our annual client survey to have the chance of winning a $50 book voucher
• what you can expect from our new blog
• what's been happening and what's coming up . . .

Happy reading
Angela

Recently published standards of literacy in Australia

Queensland Education minister, Rod Welford recently commented on the results of the Years 3, 5 and 7 literacy and numeracy tests on ABC radio.

Mr Welford commented that a student’s success at school is largely dependent on the literacy levels of their parents, and in particular their mother.

Extensive studies highlight the link between students’ home lives and their school achievement levels. Factors of race, gender, socioeconomic status, family structure and home literacy play a significant role in contributing towards a child’s success at school. Home literacy contributes to oral language development, exposes children to books and written language, shapes attitudes towards literature, fosters relationships between parent and child and shapes social-emotional attitudes to schooling.

Mr Welford added that “It may mean that one of the ways of addressing the students that are well behind is to look at the family as a whole, and see if we can assist those parents because it may well be that the parents themselves have had negative experiences in the education system and are passing that perception on to children”.

Whilst it is promising to hear Mr Welford’s comments about increasing support for families at risk, would it be of greater value to address this issue before these students fall so far behind? For some students identified for support in national tests at Years 5 or 7, the gap that separates them from the average is significant.

Early intervention strategies have been shown to make the greatest difference to student achievement. It is easier to bridge a gap between students when the gap is at its most narrow point, and much more difficult once the gap has widened as it does as students move through their school career.

Literacy resources - big discounts!

A recent stocktake has resulted in our decision to dramatically reduce the price of some of our resources . As you may know, we already sell our resources as close to cost price as possible as a service to our clients. As a special offer to readers of this newsletter, we'd like to offer you an opportunity to buy our end of year lines at a an even greater discount. We have limited stock of each item so please get in quick. Sale prices apply for current stocks only. Payment must accompany personal orders. The sale begins Monday 13 October and ends on Friday 28 November 2008. Please note that late orders will be subject to standard prices.

Special offers include:

• Comprehension Card Set (Pack of 10)  $25.00 $14.95
• Quick Reference Guides (5 Wall charts)  $25.75 $14.95
  • Reading Strategies: Decoding Strategies (size A2)
  • Reading Strategies: Comprehension Strategies (size A2)
  • Writer's Checklist (size A2)
  • High Frequency Rimes (size A2)
  • Spelling: Morphemes and Word Meanings (size A1)
• SMILE Phonemic Game Cards  $39.95 $19.95
• SMILE Double Sided Alphabet & Blend Deskmats: Beginner Font (Pack of 10)  $25.00 $12.50
• SMILE Double Sided Alphabet & Blend Deskstrips: Entries & Exits (Pack of 30)  $75.00 $39.95

Download the discount order form:

• Resource order form (Word 41 kB) (sale closed 28 Nov 2008)
• Resource order form (PDF 44 kB) (sale closed 28 Nov 2008)

Annual client survey - Win a $50 book voucher

We are currently conducting our annual survey to gain an insight into what literacy educators are looking for regarding training and support for 2009. You're invited to let us know your thoughts and at the same time have a chance to win a book voucher to the value of $50.

So let us know what workshops, topics and issues you'd like to hear more about in 2009.

What you can expect from our new blog

After debating whether to devote time and energy into adding a blog to our site, I have finally decided to do it. Hooray! for David, my web obsessed husband. He has finally managed to drag me into the twenty-first century.

Since it’s always easier to do things when you have a sense of purpose, I have spent much time thinking about what this blog should be about. Being a teacher, I’ve decided to devote it to the sharing of experiences, professionally relevant topics and ways teachers of literacy can support each other. I would encourage you to join me on this quest and post your comments and ideas. My goal is for the blog to be an open but supportive community where we can all learn from each other. So I encourage you to post your comments on topics of interest.

Some of the time I’ll link to things I’ve read elsewhere that I think will be of interest to the teaching community. The rest of the time I’ll share my own thoughts and views. We’ll find out more as time goes on and it evolves. I do look forward to embarking on the journey ahead and hope you find the blog interesting and useful.

What's been happening and what's coming up . . .

Supporting Teachers and Administrators

Plenty happening here at Literacy Solutions. We'll be launching our new strategy aimed at supporting teachers and administrators working to action their learnings from literacy training and supporting schools to stay abreast of literacy practices and pedagogy. As always we will remain focussed on providing practical strategies linking theory and practice and supporting schools to improve literacy outcomes for students.

Our onsite coaching and mentoring program has continued to increase in popularity this year, and we have been excited to celebrate the successes achieved by students, teachers and schools. We are currently taking bookings for 2009, so if you are considering this type of support please book early.

Speaking at your event in 2009

In 2008 we were invited to speak at many conferences and events across Queensland and New South Wales and have enjoyed the privilege of meeting many more dedicated educators. Unfortunately we needed to decline a number of offers due to prior commitments. If you are organising a conference or event for 2009, we'd love to hear from you. Please contact us early to secure dates.

Supporting the teaching of comprehension

We continue our ongoing relationship with Macmillan Publishing and are currently working on a series of texts to support the teaching of comprehension. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank Macmillan Education for providing Marisa and I with generous donations of shared and guided reading texts for both workshops and for demonstrating lessons in schools, and for providing free samples and prizes for conference delegates.

Partnering with Macmillan

I have recently been asked to join a national team of independent consultants providing professional development on behalf of Macmillan Education. I look forward to continuing this positive relationship as partners in quality learning. Look out for workshop dates early next year.

That's all for our first Newsletter. We look forward to bringing you more in the new year.
Angela Ehmer