Literacy is the ability to understand, respond to and use those forms of written language that are required by society and valued by individuals and communities” – English Learning Progressions, 2003.
Being a librarian certainly helped me with my writing because it made me even more of a reader, and I was always an enthusiastic reader. Writing and reading seem to me to be different aspects of a single imaginative act. – Margaret Mahy
Margaret’s quote sums up Wadestown School’s approach to literacy learning. We see reading and writing as two strands woven together – and we seek to celebrate both strands as often as possible.
We view literacy as the access point to knowledge. Our smallest students learn to read and make the wonderful discovery that once they can write even the most common word they are able to send a message to the world. Likewise, once a five year old can read one tiny word, they have begun to unlock the door to lifelong learning. Once students have mastered the skills required for reading, the process turns around and they begin reading to learn.
It is our aim at Wadestown School to kindle a lifelong love of literacy in our students as they live to learn and learn to live.