Intervention Programs

Speech and Language Intervention

Speech and Language support is provided to students by a trained SSO, with guidance from our Department for Education speech pathologist. Students participate in 2 to 4 sessions each week either in 1:1 situations or in small groups depending on their needs. These sessions include practising the correct articulation of sounds as well as activities to help improve students’ receptive and expressive language skills, thereby supporting their ability to communicate.

Mini Lit

MultiLit is a research initiative of Macquarie University, and its highly regarded literacy intervention programs reflect a contemporary approach to best practice literacy instruction as identified by international reading scientists. At Parafield Gardens Primary School we utilise Minilit and Macqlit to provide explicit literacy intervention to specific small groups of students.

MacqLit

MacqLit is an explicit and systematic reading intervention program for small groups of older low-progress readers who need to develop rapid, automatic and efficient word recognition strategies. That means the primary focus of MacqLit is on phonics, or word identification, supported by connected text reading to ensure skills are generalised to authentic reading experiences.

The teaching of phonic skills is addressed through 122 carefully scripted lessons, divided into nine parts, delivered to small groups (ideally four students, but with provision for flexibility).

The carefully constructed sequence of lessons teaches essential skills such as:

• Letter-sound correspondences presented in an easy to hard sequence,
• Strategies for decoding multi-syllable words,
• Prefixes and suffixes, and
• Generalising component skills through connected text reading.

Students who are selected to participate in the MacqLit program are withdrawn from class four times per week for a 50 minute lesson, in a small group of four or five students, working with the MacqLit Instructor.

Quick Smart Numeracy

QuickSmart Numeracy focuses on understanding and recall of basic number facts, performance of elementary calculations, acquisition of appropriate mathematics language, and problem-solving skills. The primary aim of QuickSmart is for the students to develop automaticity.

From Year 4, students who are experiencing difficulties or delays in their learning of numerical skills may be selected to participate in the QuickSmart Numeracy intervention program. Following initial testing, if a student is accepted into the QuickSmart program, they will be withdrawn from class three times per week for a thirty-minute lesson. They will work with the QuickSmart Instructor, paired with another student.

Each QuickSmart session comprises a number fact focus, flashcard fluency, speed sheets, work books, CAAS (computer component) problem solving and games. Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are covered in the Quicksmart lessons. Each process begins simply and moves onto a higher level each time the child achieves a skill.