Reading at Cranbourne Primary School
At Cranbourne Primary School, we know that learning to read is one of the most important skills a child will ever develop—and we believe every child deserves to be taught how to read successfully.
Our approach is grounded in the Science of Reading, using clear, structured and evidence-based practices to support every student to become a confident reader.
In Foundation to Year 2, we use a systematic synthetic phonics approach through our Little Learners Love Literacy program. This means students are explicitly taught how sounds and letters work together, building strong foundations so they can read with accuracy and confidence.
From Year 3, there is an important shift from learning to read to reading to learn. Students begin to use their reading skills to explore new ideas, build knowledge and engage with more complex texts across all areas of learning.
Alongside this, we continue to develop:
We closely monitor every child’s progress, using assessment to guide our teaching and provide support where it’s needed. This ensures no child is left behind.
This consistent, structured approach has led to significant improvement in our reading results—from below similar schools to well above.
Then:
Now:
At Cranbourne Primary School, we are proud to create confident readers who are ready to learn, grow and succeed.
At Cranbourne Primary School, we use a program called the Writing Revolution (or the Hochman Method). In this approach, students are taught the key components of writing, starting with a deep knowledge of quality sentences. Students are then given the skills to build these together into engaging compositions. This approach is embedded into a range of subject areas. Students are confident and competent riters, able to transfer their skills into a range of subjects and genres.
Since the switch to this evidence-backed approach, data has gone from this:
to this in 2025:
These evidence based approaches ensure that all students are provided the skills to demonstrate exceptional writing.
At Cranbourne Primary School, we believe in early support for students who are at risk of falling behind in their literacy learning. Our teaching teams monitor student progress, and students needing additional support are provided this at regular intervals to catch them up. Our intervention is delivered by trained experts, and makes sure students are always able to access grade level content, before they fall too far behind. Our intervention operates at all year levels in the school, providing the opportunity for students transferring from other schools to gain success in our environment of high expectations.
English as an Additional Language (EAL) students come from backgrounds where English is not their first language. This includes newly or recently arrived students from overseas and those from language backgrounds other than English. A student is identified as having a language background other than English if the student, mother, or father speaks a language other than English.
An EAL Curriculum has been developed by the Department of Education to support the learning of English. Teachers follow the Victorian Curriculum English scope and sequence, but will also refer to the EAL Curriculum to ensure those students are being supported, and work is properly targetted based on students’ language proficiency levels.
EAL students also have opportunities to participate in targeted EAL classes, where they work in small groups with a qualified EAL teacher to support their English language development. These sessions include oral language activities, role plays, games, and conversations, along with focused literacy support tailored to the specific needs of each group.
