Literacy & Numeracy

Bridgewater continues to ensure children achieve success in academic and personal fields. Results in the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) are consistently high.

All children are supported to stretch themselves as learners, with children and teachers using a range of evidence (including standardised tests) to make determinations about the right level for each child. In Literacy, teachers assess children’s reading regularly (Rec-Yr7), teaching children to select materials for home that are at an Independent Level (meaning they can read with confidence and enjoyment), and materials for school that are at an Instructional Level (meaning they are being stretched to learn ‘what’s next’ for them).

Assessments also help us determine where children have gaps in understandings in spelling, so they can learn the sounds and rules that help them spell many words, instead of just words in their spelling list. We employ an additional adult to work across the Junior Primary classes, supporting teachers to work with our younger children at just the right level, when they need it.

Numeracy works in a similar way, with check outs helping children identify where they are and what they need to work on. We use strategies to help children develop automaticity in numeracy, so the number facts they need pop into their minds without effort, leaving their brains free to do the more complex work.