English and Mathematics

At Tamahere Model Country School, we believe that at the heart of literacy is a love of oral language, reading and writing. Our goal is for every child to develop both the skills and the enthusiasm to engage deeply with what they read, to explore new ideas and worlds through books.

Our school follows a structured approach to teaching reading and writing, ensuring that students build strong foundations in literacy. We continue to strengthen our teaching practice by implementing a structured literacy approach in oral language, reading, and writing as the three strands of English.

Structured Literacy

Structured literacy is a teaching approach that helps students become confident, capable readers and writers by teaching literacy skills in a clear, systematic way.

It focuses on:

• Decoding (word reading) – understanding how letters and sounds work together.
• Phonemic awareness – hearing and manipulating sounds in spoken language.
• Systematic synthetic phonics – learning grapheme–phoneme correspondences in a clear sequence.
• Fluency – developing smooth, accurate, expressive reading.
  Morphology – understanding meaningful units in words, such as prefixes and suffixes.
• Vocabulary – learning and using new words with confidence.
  Syntax – understanding how words and sentences are structured.
• Comprehension – making meaning from increasingly complex texts.
• Handwriting and transcription skills – forming letters and writing with accuracy and fluency.
• Writing processes – planning, drafting, revising, and editing writing.

These components are explicitly reflected in the teaching sequences from Years 0–6, which state that structured literacy approaches are evidence-based, systematic, and essential for building strong foundations in reading and writing.

This approach enables students to develop knowledge in a step-by-step way, without gaps, so they can fully enjoy and engage with texts.

Oral Language

Oral Language focuses on teaching students to communicate, express themselves, and interact effectively. It develops students’ understanding of spoken and signed languages, including New Zealand Sign Language, and for non-verbal students, any first language communication methods such as alternative and augmentative communication (AAC).

At our school, oral language is woven into every aspect of English learning. Students are explicitly taught to:

• share ideas and listen actively
• build vocabulary and background knowledge
• engage in discussions that deepen comprehension
  respond to and interpret texts
• develop confidence in spoken presentations and collaborative interactions

This reflects curriculum expectations that oral language underpins reading comprehension, writing fluency, and the development of academic language.

Reading

Reading instruction focuses on teaching students to decode, make meaning from, and think critically about texts. The curriculum states that students develop an understanding of how to:

• read fluently
• comprehend a range of texts with attention to audience, purpose, and form
• engage with ideas and perspectives
• recognise how texts reflect identities, cultures, and worldviews

Reading is taught through:

• decodable texts aligned with the phonics sequence (Years 0–3)
• rich read-alouds to build vocabulary, knowledge, and comprehension
• progressively more complex texts, including oral, visual, written, and in Years 5–6, digital and media texts
• discussion-based reading to support deeper understanding
• knowledge-building through texts, as outlined in the curriculum

Students are supported to make connections between texts and their own experiences, and to explore multiple interpretations of texts as they move through the year levels.

Writing

Writing focuses on teaching students to write for a variety of purposes, using the codes, conventions, and structures that enable others to understand their ideas. Students are explicitly taught:

• transcription skills (handwriting, spelling, punctuation)
• sentence and text structure
• vocabulary and grammar
  how purpose, audience, and form guide writing decisions
• how to plan, craft, revise, and publish texts

This aligns with the curriculum emphasis on developing proficiency in composition and writing processes.

At Tamahere Model Country School:

• Teachers plan their writing collaboratively and share ideas.
• Writing experiences are connected to the syndicate inquiry wherever possible, reflecting curriculum expectations for meaningful, integrated learning.
• Explicit teaching of structure, conventions, and language features occurs in every lesson, ensuring consistency and clarity for learners.

Spelling

Spelling is taught explicitly and systematically through our structured literacy approach. This includes phonics, morphology, and spelling rules taught in alignment with the New Zealand Curriculum’s emphasis on systematic teaching of decoding and encoding.

Spelling instruction includes:

• grapheme–phoneme correspondences
• syllable types
• morphology (prefixes, suffixes, roots)
• high-frequency and irregular words taught through patterns, not memorisation
• dictation and application through writing

This approach supports students to become confident, accurate writers and contributes directly to reading fluency.