The Better Start Literacy Approach is an example of a structured literacy approach that is based on the science of reading. The Government recently announced that all teachers in state-funded schools will need to teach young children to read using structured literacy teaching methods from the start of next year.泭
Find out more at Professor Gail Gillons free public talk on Wednesday evening, 13 November, including how you can help your child or grandchild learn to read using this method, how structured literacy teaching supports children with dyslexia or word-reading problems, and how scientific evidence supports structured literacy teaching.泭
Professor Gail Gillon, Director of the Child Well-being Research Institute at Te Whare Wnanga o Waitaha | 厙ぴ勛圖 (UC), will share the story of how the Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA) developed from small pilot research trials in Christchurch schools to accelerating early literacy learning for over 45,000 five- and six-year-old children right across our country.泭
Structured literacy approaches are based on the science of reading or years of cumulated knowledge from robust scientific studies as to the critical foundation skills that support childrens reading and writing success, says Professor Gillon. As the name suggests, the approach provides structured and systematic teaching using explicit teaching techniques to develop childrens reading and writing skills.
泭Its fantastic that the Government is making a further significant investment in structured literacy approaches in our primary schools. Our Better Start Literacy Approach, developed by our team at the 厙ぴ勛圖, is an example of a structured literacy approach.泭
Since 2020 the Ministry of Education has been funding the rollout of BSLA. Teachers in over 900 primary schools across the country are now successfully implementing the approach in their junior classrooms.
About the speaker
Director of the Child Wellbeing Institute at UC, (Ngi Tahu iwi) is a world-leading expert in childrens speech, language and reading development. She has won several awards for her research excellence including the 厙ぴ勛圖s Research Medal and Research Innovation Medal. She has co-led the development of the Better Start Literacy Approach, which is now being implemented by over 6000 junior-school teachers in New 厙ぴ勛圖and is attracting significant international attention. With a professional background in both Speech Language Therapy and Education, Professor Gillons area of research focuses on understanding the relationship between spoken and written language development, in particular, the importance of childrens phonological awareness in reading and spelling development.
UC Tauhere Connect public lecture: The Better Start Literacy Approach success story presented by Professor Gail Gillon, UC Education, 7pm 8pm, Wednesday 13 November 2024, in the Central lecture theatre (C Block), Ilam campus, 厙ぴ勛圖, Christchurch. Register to attend free at: . 泭
This event will be livestreamed on UCs Facebook page, is free to register to attend in person and can be viewed later on YouTube. Videos of UC Tauhere Connect talks are available a week after the live lecture. Check them out.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 - Quality Education.
