At St Mary’s School Intervention is designed for students from Year 1 to Year 6 who have experienced difficulties accessing the Mathematic and English curriculum appropriate to their age. But how do these programs work?
Keep reading to find out what you can expect from our Intervention Programs.
Having your child in an intervention program during Primary School can seem daunting at first. Some parents may feel concerned about the time needed to complete these programs, how effective they are, and even the need to make progress.
At St Mary’s Malvern East, we understand these concerns, and we want to guide you through our Intervention Programs to help clarify the process and how each program works.
Why St Mary’s Intervention Programs?
Most students require support at some point in their education, as they encounter a variety of areas within the curriculum that each need different skillsets and cover a range of concepts. Some children learn at a different pace, so intervention is essential to accommodate personal needs and abilities.
So, what makes St Mary’s programs different?
- Our Intervention Programs are research and evidence-based.
- Many targeted intervention programs at other schools are only facilitated by Learning Support Officers (LSOs), while at St Mary’s, most of ours are facilitated by trained teachers.
Some people may consider interventions as a way to catch up on uncompleted work, but in fact, they are designed to fill any gaps in a student’s learning journey. Targeted intervention programs also provide opportunities for students to learn and practice specific and explicit strategies, which can be utilised back in the classroom.
Our programs are designed to provide students with more support to help them access the necessary knowledge, understanding, and skills that create a foundation for successful and lifelong learning and participation in the community.
How Do Our Intervention Programs Work?
At St Mary’s Malvern East, our curriculum planning, delivery, assessment and reporting is guided by our belief that children learn best when:
- Each individual is treated as unique and worthy of love and understanding.
- Each individual is given equitable access to education.
- Respect and trust are valued.
- There is a sense of community among students, staff and families.
- The learning is safe and secure.
- Students and staff are encouraged to strive for excellence.
- Self-esteem and self-confidence are nurtured.
- There is a focus on individual needs.
But, additional steps are required when it comes to interventions in a student’s learning.
Our Intervention Team meets fortnightly to support our Intervention Programs and to discuss student growth and progress. Our Intervention Team is made up of our:
- Principal
- Mathematics and English Leaders
- Reading and MathematicsIntervention teachers
- Learning Diversity/Teaching and Learning Leader
- When necessary, classroom teachers and Learning Support Officers may attend.
A key focus during these regular meetings is to review and analyse a range of data sets and to monitor, evaluate and make recommendations about potential additional strategies and help determine:
- Which students may require intervention
- Which students must remain on the intervention programs
- Which students will be able to discontinue the intervention
If your child becomes involved with our Intervention Programs, you will initially be told by the classroom teacher, followed by a formal letter from the school seeking permission for your child to take part in one of the programs. As a parent, we know how important it is for you to be notified and advised on the best learning pathways for your child.
Our Intervention Programs
Currently, we are fortunate to offer our students three Literacy Intervention Programs, a Mathematic Intervention Program as well as an Enrichment Intervention Program.
Levelled Literacy Intervention (LLI)
Suitable For: Years 2-6
- The Fountas & Pinnell Levelled Literacy Intervention System(LLI) is an intensive, small-group, supplementary literacy intervention for students who find reading and writing difficult.
- The goal of LLI is to lift the literacy achievement of students who are not achieving grade-level expectations in reading, specifically focusing on comprehension.
- This program is currently being delivered by Therese Davies(one of our Reading Intervention Teachers).
MultiLit
Suitable For: Years 2-6
- The MultiLit Reading Tutor Program (Making Up Lost Time In Literacy) is designed for students working towards achieving the year-level standard in reading.
- The MultiLit Program is an Australian-based program, developed by Macquarie University, Sydney.
- The program provides personalised, intensive, and systematic instruction in three main areas: phonics (Word Attack Skills), sight word recognition, and support book reading (Reinforced Reading).
- This program is currently being delivered by one-to-one by Reading Intervention Teacher, Vanessa Ratnayake.
MiniLit
Suitable For: Year 1
- The Minilit Reading Tutor Program (Meeting Initial Needs in Literacy) is designed for students working towards achieving the year level standard in reading.
- It provides personalised, intensive and systematic instruction in five areas: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary knowledge and comprehension.
- This program is provided in a small group setting and is currently being delivered by Therese Davies (Reading Intervention Teacher).
Mathematic Intervention
Suitable For: Years 1-6
- The Mathematics Intervention Program focuses on building student ability and confidence in the area of Number and Algebra.
- The program focuses on developing a sound understanding of number sequences and mental strategies across the four operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
- This program is delivered in small groups by Lucy McGrath(Mathematics Leader and Intervention Teacher).
Enrichment Intervention
Suitable For: Years 2-6
- The Enrichment Intervention Program focuses on supporting and challenging students who excel in various aspects of learning, including Mathematics, English, STEM, the Creative Arts and a range of problem-solving
- The Enrichment Intervention Program provides opportunities for students to compete locally and more widely in a competition based environment
- This program is delivered in small groups by Mrs Therese Davies (Enrichment Intervention Teacher).
*We’ll be releasing a blog about our Enrichment Intervention Program in the future. We’ll link it here when it’s published.
Supporting Your Child Every Step of the Way
“Personalisation is about connecting learning to children’s lives and the ways they learn best. Children are taught to think about how they learn and what makes a good learner.” – Performance beyond expectation Hargreaves and Harris, 2011
Our Intervention Programs are research and evidence-based and are specifically designed to further support your child’s education and overall wellbeing. If your child needs guidance within an area of the curriculum, reach out to us today for further information and support.
A Reminder of Our Learning Approach:
- We believe at St Mary’s that learning is a meaningful lifelong process and that children need to be active participants in their learning to gain the necessary life skills for their future.
- We believe in providing a learning environment where parents are seen as the prime educators of their children; the school staff are the learning facilitators. As a Catholic School, Christ is the guiding light in the life-long process of learning and loving.
- Literacy and numeracy programs are given priority at St Mary’s as they are the core to learning many other skills and understandings of our world. But, it is our shared faith in Christ that permeates all that happens at St Mary’s.
We are always available for a chat.
Contact our office to arrange a time for a one-on-one meeting with our Principal, Shane Tobin, to discuss your child’s future with St Mary’s.
Tel: (03) 9571 1358
Email: office@smmalverneast.catholic.edu.au