WSS literacy practices in every classroom

All teachers at WSS use the Before, During and After (B-D-A) reading strategy to build comprehension and confidence:

• Before: establishing purpose, activating prior knowledge, and preparing students for key ideas
• During: supporting meaning-making through questioning, predicting, summarising, and organising information
• After: reflecting, extending thinking, and applying new knowledge

These strategies ensure that every student has the tools to access curriculum texts, participate in class discussions, and demonstrate understanding across subjects.

WSS literacy support programs

Alongside whole-school teaching practices, WSS provides additional targeted literacy support designed to meet individual student needs.

Year 7 literacy foundations

All Year 7 English classes receive explicit instruction in morphology – the study of the meaningful parts of words. This program, developed by our Senior Speech Pathologist, helps students build vocabulary, deepen comprehension, and strengthen decoding skills.

Intensive decoding support

Students identified as requiring further support participate in Sounds Write intervention. This structured, evidence-based program operates three times a week and focuses on phonemic awareness, decoding, and fluency. Sessions are delivered by trained instructors from the Inclusive Learning Team.

 The Sounds Write website has more information about this programme.

Additional literacy support

Students may also access supplementary help through:

• The Literacy Team
• Senior Speech Pathologist guidance
• Classroom embedded literacy strategies, including a morphology program embedded in all year 7 classes
• Individualised support for Aboriginal learners in the Nunga Room

Identifying students for literacy intervention

WSS uses a comprehensive screening and assessment process to ensure every student receives the right level of support from the start.

Screening

The literacy teams ensures that all incoming Year 7 students, and new enrolments at other year levels, complete:

• DIBELS MAZE
• Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)
• Year 6 teacher transition information

This information is used to create class and learner profiles, and is shared with teachers at the beginning of the school year. These profiles help teachers tailor learning, differentiate instruction, and monitor progress as part of classroom practice.

Students who are flagged as at-risk undertake further diagnostic assessments focusing on:

• Phonemic awareness
• Decoding
• Fluency
• Vocabulary
• comprehension

Literacy intervention

Students who are identified as needing more structured literacy support are placed in Tier 2 small-group intervention, or Tier 3 individualised intervention depending on their assessed needs. The Literacy Team monitors progress closely to adjust support to match student need and growth.

The WSS Literacy Team

The WSS Literacy Team brings together leaders, teachers, and specialist staff to ensure consistent, high-quality literacy support across the school.

Our work includes:

• Regular team meetings analysing data and planning next steps
• Professional learning for teachers on morphology and B-D-A strategies
• Collaboration with WAVE, the Disability Unit, Special Classes, and Aboriginal Education
• Co-planning with classroom teachers to align intervention with in-class learning
• Fidelity checks and feedback loops to maintain high standards across programs
• Communication with whole school, with students, and families and careers.

Tracking literacy progress

A central tracking system enables the Literacy Team to monitor growth, inform groupings, and identify next steps for each student. Teachers use screening data, intervention records, and classroom evidence to build a full picture of student learning over time.

Literacy improvement results

The WSS Literacy Intervention model shows strong improvement in student outcomes.

2025 progress

66% of students in Sounds-Write intervention reached the average range for decoding single-syllable real and nonsense words.

• Students gained an average of +28 words per minute in oral reading fluency (compared with the expected +20).
• 30% of students made twice the expected fluency growth, improving by 40+ words per minute.

These results demonstrate the impact of structured intervention and strong classroom practice.

If you would like more information about Literacy at WSS, please contact us.

Jess Krawiec

Literacy Leader

Jessica.Krawiec407@schools.sa.edu.au

P (08) 8329 7200

Andrea Donaldson

Senior Leader 

English/HASS/Whole School Literacy

Andrea.Donaldson476@schools.sa.edu.au 

P (08) 8329 7200