English study is mandatory in NSW from Kindergarten to Year 12.
Students learn about the English language through written, spoken and visual texts of increasing complexity as they progress through their schooling.
An understanding of the English language is central to how we communicate and essential for intellectual, social and emotional development.
The study of English should develop a love of literature and learning and be challenging and enjoyable. It develops skills to enable students to experiment with ideas and expression, to become active, independent and lifelong learners, to work with each other and to reflect on their learning.
At Middle Dural Public School we use the Sound Waves program to teach spelling and reading skills. Find out more below.
Sound Waves
Sound Waves is based on the phonemic approach which is recognised as one of the most effective ways to teach spelling and reading skills. The Sound Waves phonemic approach uses a sound-to-letter strategy. This synthetic phonics approach focuses first on the basic units of sound in our language – phonemes. It then explores the letters that represent these sounds and how they can be put together to form written words.
To find out more about the Sound Waves phonemic approach you can watch these videos: