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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 2005-12-14, Page 17The Huron Expositor • December 14, 2005 Page 17 News. SPS celebrating `turnaround' in primary literacy Provincial funding, school initiatives improve primary EQAO scores by 29 per cent Susan Hundertmark Seaforth Public School staff are celebrating a huge turnaround in reading and math results for Grade 3 students in EQAO testing. But, provincial "Turnaround Team Project" funding, is just one of several reasons for the improvement, says principal Kim Black. "The teachers have worked very hard and it's paid off," she says. SPS Grade 3 results for 2005 in reading met provincial results with 59 per cent of students at or above the provincial standard. "That's a 29 per cent increase for us over the history of completing EQAO - it's a significant year for our Grade 3 data," says Black. And, while Seaforth Public has just completed the first year of the three to four-year provincial project to improve literacy in the primary grades, Black also credits the commitment of parents, teachers and Avon Maitland board -led initia- tives, such as Team Read for the leap. SPS's Grade 3 EQAO results have jumped from 28 per cent of students meeting the provincial standard in 2001-02 in reading. Also, in math, SPS Grade 3 results rose from 13 per cent meeting the provincial standard in 2001-02 to 70 per cent meeting the provincial standard in 2004-05. For the past three years, the principal and teachers at SPS have been members of Team Read, which gives professional development to improve teaching language skills. As well, SPS has established "professional learning communities," where teachers of the same grade level work together, coaching each other in successful teaching strategies. Provincial funding has provided $50,000 in new books for primary classrooms this year, with more to come in the next several years. The Turnaround project funding has also bought "guided reading tables," wheeled stools for teachers to use at the reading tables and new cabinets to store books. "Every room from Kindergarten to Grade 3 will have them," says Black. The guided reading tables are semi -circular, u - shaped tables that allow a teacher to work with three or four students at a time as they practise their reading skills. "The tables are more conducive to being in the text with the child. The teachers have to ensure the child is following along or the lesson is lost," says Black. The new books fall into three categories. The first includes levelled texts - 400 to 500 of which are now in each primary classroom - used to allow students to read at their own level. The second are large story books used in shared reading, where a teacher and the class read together and the third are literature. All three types are used in guided reading groups to provide a balance between phonics and reading comprehension. A room in the administrative offices of SPS has been devoted to the storage of the new books. "We've had a huge influx of books and soon this room will be full of them," says Black. The Turnaround project funding has also allowed 15 to 20 more professional development days a year for primary teachers at SPS. "Our teachers are receiving intensive and ongo- Grade 3 teacher Stacey Klassen helps Cameron Morton with guided read-- ing ead-ing using new resources made available to improve student literacy. ing professional devel- opment that is very specific. They're getting more than anyone else in the board," she says. Along with the one to two PD days a month, SPS teachers are also meeting , with each other once every two weeks. "There's some short- term pain for long-term gain with teachers being out of the class- room. But, the children in those classrooms are benefitting," says Black. SPS teachers are also being asked to remove any teaching materials they own from the classroom so that administration can make sure each class- room is well-equipped if a teacher retires or moves on to another school. "We have more books in our classrooms now than we have ever had and we probably have more now than any other schools in the board," says Black. "We're a very lucky group," she says. And get upto4 0$** more phones for ...on the new Couples & Family plan $35 bill credit to your account when you sign up on a Family plan and Small business pooling activation COMMUNICATION ROG ERS - WIRELESS AUTHORIZE.0 AGENT • aim pales masa Ara, en mareaesn b a.w x.+e.w Orb 11,10.111111 ^f0 dirmaw YnssSaraFs.r, sM ssaary .seaman 04 mare Y airai.MS galas "661111e dist eadss aurae leaf alai as ANN me mama ases6ry imam mama paw. .1.._I ml. "MI• it ar.aab rr O•aMral N Maim Oew sassy eyrsame amisamFs4parIarm -. Caen M+ Fe* amasMale AY3.JDebedgam saOMGala Ymlam arMr AMoaeMr•eYMasser..w Os **iaerawsnortmeFYler•1Mrsa.Mast'amts.ManMass.1rMewOarNMom wMama dasps Ce..r'seasr re Mr aNr Yrrs. «006