The Wiradjuri Wizards was an intensive seven-week program designed to improve the literacy skills of our Stage 2 and 3 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
The program was implemented in a highly supported way with AP Learning Mrs Mary Watkin and SLSO Mrs Leonie Reeves.
The children met three times a week for a one hour workshop where they focussed on analysing the features of a quality text. The children were then supported to write their own high-quality texts and from these they were given new learning goals. The children’s progress was monitored and tracked. Improvements in their writing of between 25% and 46 % were common during this period.
Darla Charles Goolagong stated that, “the Wiradjuri Wizards Program helped me learn what I need to do to be a great writer”.
Jardi McAnespie declared that he particularly enjoyed discussing why living in the country is better than living in the city and he loved putting his ideas into a really powerful persuasion with strong evidence to support his stance.
Tahlia Read was elated with her Wiradjuri Wizard Report stating that it was the best school report that she had received to date.
Mrs Watkin enthused, “the children really bonded well, enjoyed the camaraderie of the group and it was wonderful to see both the growth in their learning and their enthusiasm”.
The students have now transitioned back to their classes and will be tracked using a whole-school pilot literacy program which is commencing in Term 3.
