Trusting the evidence
When it comes to building early literacy and numeracy skills, the evidence is clear about what approach works best.
“I’ll never forget when one of my students looked up from her book and said, ‘I can read this by myself now!’ It was as if a switch had been flipped,” recalls Rhiannon Rowe, Head of English (Junior School) and a Year 1 teacher at Haileybury.
“She realised that the letters and sounds she had been practicing had turned into real words, and the joy in her face said it all. Moments like these remind me how transformative a strong phonics program can be — not just for their reading skills, but for their confidence in learning.”
In June this year, the Victorian government announced that explicit teaching will be embedded in every classroom from 2025. This includes ensuring all students from Prep to Grade 2 learn to read using a systematic synthetic phonics approach that clearly teaches students the relationship between sounds and letters.
The overhauled reading program also includes the explicit teaching of oral language, vocabulary, reading fluency and comprehension.
Reflecting the research
The Government decision to introduce evidence-based teaching — which includes explicit instruction to build literacy and numeracy skills — is based on a significant body of research from organisations like the Australian Education Research Organisation and the Grattan Institute.
This research shows explicit teaching or explicit instruction works best for the largest number of students, and is particularly effective at capturing and supporting students who may be struggling.
Leading the way
Haileybury has been delivering evidence-based literacy and numeracy programs, including phonics and explicit instruction, for the past 18 years. The School’s acclaimed explicit teaching model is based on ‘I Do, We Do, You Do.’ First of all, the teacher demonstrates what is being learned (I Do), then teacher and students perform that learning activity together (We Do), and then the student does the activity alone to illustrate and embed what they have learned (You Do).
“Education systems around the world have followed research and evidence that the explicit teaching of phonics is vital for early readers — it helps students ‘crack the code.”Grenville Green, Haileybury Deputy Principal (Junior School)
“However, Australia has left it up to individual states and territories, which means explicit teaching of phonics hasn’t been mandatory in teacher education programs or in school systems. The ACT and Victoria are the final states in Australia to introduce this approach and it’s a very positive step.”
Using letters and sounds
Grenville has witnessed the effectiveness of explicit teaching for the School’s youngest learners, particularly the positive impact of a structured phonics program.
“We teach students to use letters and sounds from the beginning. They then learn to blend letters when reading and to segment letters and sounds for spelling. We teach in a systematic and structured way and each day there are multiple opportunities for students to use the skills and sounds they’ve learned — embedding and building proficiency.”
A tried and tested approach
“The exposure for students is constant and bite-sized — a little, a lot — and it’s exciting to see them learning single letter sounds and then moving to two letter sounds and consolidating what they learn with worksheets, songs and actions that help embed their learning. We know this approach works and we see the successes in the classroom.”Rhiannon Rowe, Head of English (Junior School)
Explicit instruction is also part of the early numeracy program at Haileybury — again, using an evidence-based approach of what education experts know works.
“Each numeracy lesson is based on ‘I Do, We Do, You Do,” explains Rhiannon.
“As with literacy, each numeracy lesson begins with a maths warm-up where students revise maths concepts that they’ve already learnt to help them have a stronger understanding. We also do that for sounds and reading. We review one letter for a day and then move on to a new letter the next day, but during warm-up sessions, we come back to previous letters to review those.”
Translating into success
Haileybury’s NAPLAN results are testament to the effectiveness of the School’s teaching programs. The annual National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) sees students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 tested on fundamental literacy and numeracy skills.
Haileybury consistently ranks in the top co-education independent primary schools for Years 3 and 5 NAPLAN results. The 2023 NAPLAN average for Years 3 and 5 was 544.1, compared to a national average of 417.9.
“Typically, in Year 3 our students are at a Year 6 reading level,” explains Grenville.
The quality of teachers and teaching programs and the School’s impressive NAPLAN results have also helped Haileybury win the national Primary School of the Year – Non-government award five times, including this year.
From Melbourne to Darwin …
The same evidence-based programs are also rolled out across Junior School classrooms in Haileybury Rendall School in Darwin. Teachers from Darwin and Melbourne collaborate closely to develop classroom lessons, learning resources and to constantly review student progress in literacy and numeracy.
Grenville visits Haileybury Rendall School once a term to spend time in the Junior School classrooms and to support teachers delivering phonics and numeracy using explicit instruction.
“We have a common literacy and numeracy curriculum across Melbourne and Darwin. If I walk into a classroom in Darwin today, students will be focusing on the same words and doing the same tasks as students in Melbourne. Our Darwin teachers also have the same professional development opportunities and support to deliver these programs,” he says.
… and beyond
Haileybury has freely shared its expertise in explicit instruction with more than 100 schools across Australia, particularly schools in disadvantaged parts of the country. Haileybury teachers have spent time in those classrooms, demonstrating lessons and effective teaching strategies and running workshops for teachers.
“This has made an impact in those schools whose NAPLAN data, reading levels and student engagement have turned around”Grenville Green, Haileybury Deputy Principal (Junior School)
Spreading the word and the success
Haileybury’s impact will spread further afield later this year when the school delivers an online phonics program available for teachers across the country. The program content is being developed by Haileybury teachers, for all teachers, and will include why phonics is important and what the research says, an interactive platform that breaks down each area of phonics teaching, and strategies on how to use phonics in teaching.
“It’s vital to build a solid foundation of literacy and numeracy skills in the younger years because it has ongoing positive impacts,” says Grenville.
“We know this helps students be prepared for the later years of school and it helps them achieve greater success and confidence in VCE.”
