RFF
(Release From Face-to-face teaching)
Mrs Green and Ms Saville
Each class spends 2 hours a week with the RFF teacher who is responsible for a specific learning area.
In 2009 children will be engaged in a variety of music activities as well as learning about HSIE topics including 'Identifying Us' and 'Living in Communities.'
STLA
(Support Teacher Learning Assistance)
Mrs Rosewarne
Charlestown Public School's Support Teacher Learning Assistance (STLA) works on a Monday and Tuesday with many individual children and groups from kindergarten to year 6. The main areas of focus include; phonemic awareness, phonics, sight word acquisition, reading accuracy, fluency and comprehension, writing and spelling, numeracy, and fine motor development.
The children in kindergarten completed the Best Start Assessment at the beginning of the year. The results of the assessment enabled teachers to make informed decisions on grouping children for literacy groups much earlier than in previous years. The groups provide the children with activities which develop early reading, writing and fine motor skills. The groups are run on four mornings a week and are supported by the STLA.
Small groups of Year 1 children work with the STLA on various activities to develop articulation, phonemic awareness, word attack, spelling and writing as well as reading accuracy and fluency. It is great to see the children's progress as they develop these essential skills to help with future academic success. Year 2 is supported by the STLA during their literacy sessions. A small group is withdrawn to help complete class work with more directed instruction and guidance.
The STLA is involved in the Count Me In Too numeracy program in terms 2 and 3. The children participate in games based activities to help develop number and problem solving strategies. Charlestown Public School is also targeting areas which need further development based on the NAPLAN results. Children have been participating in specific activities to help develop literacy and numeracy skills identified through the testing process. Several other students are supported on an individual basis. A collaborative effort is often needed for some students to develop strategies which enable them to achieve personal educational outcomes.