CHARISSE GARCIA – LITERACY LEADER

A Warm Wayi Welcome to Everyone!

I’m thrilled to introduce myself as your Learning Specialist for Literacy. Last December, I completed my Master of Learning Intervention, a valuable experience that deepened my understanding of evidence-based practices in literacy, numeracy, and wellbeing. This year, my learning journey continues through the Teaching Excellence Program.

Excitingly, we are embarking on the implementation of our whole-school phonics program! In Term 1, our focus is on assessments to establish each student’s starting point in their GPC (grapheme-phoneme correspondence) set. We will assess letter and sound knowledge, word and non-word reading, and fluency. In Week 8, teachers will engage in collaborative planning sessions to analyse student data and prepare for Term 2’s structured literacy instruction.

To support this initiative, we have planned mini-professional learning sessions throughout the year, covering phonics instruction, Wayi’s instructional model, and explicit teaching strategies. I look forward to working alongside you as we build strong literacy foundations for our students!