As always ECE students work with an emergent play-based approach where we use the students interests to address important academic areas such as Literacy.

When we think of Literacy at school we often imagine an engaging lesson with children sitting down on the mat, having a teacher model a skill or address a specific focus, using a large whiteboard and other resources and then have the children breaking off into groups to practice this skill or focus independently; or with support.

While we use this model for short periods throughout the day, such as our Phonics Lessons and Reading times; In ECE we also focus on a hands-on, play based approach to English literacy and this is where the magic really happens.

‘Literacy in action’ is purposeful, meaningful and promotes long term understandings, because the children get to practise and refine a variety of skills that they have learnt during ‘mat times’ or that they have seen modelled elsewhere in real life situations.

While students are engaging in different activities such as playing with playdough, accessing story and literacy apps on the iPads, learning songs and nursery rhymes, making books, visiting the library, playing word games, and using computer keyboards in dramatic play, they have opportunities to build hand strength for writing, practise sounds and pronunciation, understand different concepts about science and technologies, and foster their love of reading and writing as well.

We are so glad to see ECE children actively involved in these activities and we are very proud of the way they demonstrate literary success through play.