Our Whole-School Approach to Synthetic Phonics

At Mahogany Rise Primary School, we are committed to providing every child with a strong foundation in reading and spelling. Each morning from 9:10 – 9:50am, our whole school participates in dedicated phonics and spelling instruction using evidence-based programs designed to meet students at their point of need.

Our core phonics program, Phormes, is a comprehensive and systematic approach that develops students’ understanding of:

• Phonology through phonics – learning how sounds and letters work together to read and spell words.
• Orthography through spelling – understanding the rules and patterns of English spelling.
• Morphology and etymology – exploring how words are built and where they come from.
• Semantics and vocabulary – building rich word knowledge and understanding.
• Phormes lessons target each student’s individual level and focus on key literacy skills, including decoding, spelling, word meaning, phonemic awareness, and handwriting.

Alongside Phormes, students also participate in Spelling Mastery each morning. This structured, evidence-based program uses the Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI) approach to teach reliable spelling skills. Through clear, step-by-step lessons, students learn spelling patterns using phonemic, morphemic, and whole-word instruction. Lessons are interactive, ensuring every student is actively engaged, receives immediate feedback, and experiences success in their learning.

Together, Phormes and Spelling Mastery form a cohesive, school-wide approach to literacy instruction—ensuring all students develop strong, confident reading and spelling skills for life.

Our Whole-School Approach to Literacy

At Mahogany Rise Primary School, we take a consistent, evidence-based approach to teaching Literacy across all year levels. Our teaching is grounded in the principles of Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI), ensuring lessons are clear, purposeful, and build upon prior knowledge.

Senior School

In the senior years, literacy instruction focuses on developing deep comprehension and sophisticated writing skills. Lessons are designed with an understanding of cognitive load theory—information is carefully chunked to support memory and mastery.

Students engage in:

• Vocabulary development to strengthen understanding and expression
• Genre studies to explore and apply text structures and language features
• Sentence- and paragraph-level writing to build coherence and complexity
• Novel studies that connect reading, writing, and discussion
• Choral reading and fluency pairs to enhance reading fluency and expression
• Handwriting practice to ensure accuracy, speed, and legibility
• Senior students also participate in Core Knowledge units, which build reading comprehension through a knowledge-rich curriculum. These units expand background knowledge and vocabulary—key drivers of comprehension success.

Junior School

In the junior years, Literacy instruction lays the foundation for confident reading and writing. Using EDI, teachers explicitly model and guide learning through chunked instruction and a focus on vocabulary, sentence structure, and paragraph writing.
Students engage with mentor texts to learn from quality examples of writing, and regularly participate in:

• Choral reading and fluency pairs to build automaticity and confidence
• Handwriting to develop fine motor control and transcription skills
• Like the senior school, junior students take part in Core Knowledge units, which develop comprehension through rich, content-based reading experiences.

Home–School Reading Partnership

Across the whole school, students take part in home reading, fostering a strong connection between school and family. We celebrate student reading nights to acknowledge effort and progress, encouraging a lifelong love of reading and setting every child up for success.

Intervention and Extension Programs

At Mahogany Rise Primary School, we are committed to ensuring every student experiences success in their learning. Our targeted intervention programs provide focused support for students who require additional help in literacy and numeracy, while our extension sessions challenge and extend high-achieving learners.

In-School Intervention

Targeted intervention takes place during school hours, without interruption to the core morning literacy block. Identified students participate in small group sessions three times a week, using evidence-based programs that build foundational reading and writing skills.

• Corrective Reading – This program focuses on improving reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension through explicit, systematic instruction. It targets decoding and comprehension difficulties, helping students develop the skills needed to become confident, independent readers.
• Expressive Writing – Designed to support struggling writers, this program teaches students to plan, organise, and write clear, complete sentences and paragraphs. Lessons are highly structured, ensuring students build strong writing habits and a deeper understanding of grammar and sentence construction.

After-Hours Support

To further support student learning, before- and after-school intervention sessions are offered throughout the week. These sessions provide additional opportunities for students to receive targeted support in literacy and numeracy in a small group setting.

Extension Opportunities

In addition to intervention, Mahogany Rise Primary School offers enhancement sessions for students ready to go beyond the core curriculum. These sessions, held three times a week before and after school, provide enrichment activities designed to challenge students’ thinking and extend their knowledge and skills.

Our Whole-School Approach to Mathematics

At Mahogany Rise Primary School, we value the importance of Mathematics as an essential life skill that builds problem-solving, reasoning, and confidence. Our students engage in daily mathematics sessions, with a strong focus on Number each morning, followed by additional lessons after lunch to deepen understanding across all mathematical strands.

Lesson Structure

Every maths session begins with a Daily Review to consolidate prior learning and strengthen fluency:

• Junior students participate in interactive daily review slides.
• Senior students complete Mental Maths activities using workbooks to build automaticity and recall.

Lessons follow the Gradual Release Model – I do, We do, You do – ensuring students move from guided instruction to independent practice with confidence. This structure allows all students to experience success through explicit, supportive teaching.

We use a blend of Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI) lessons and hands-on learning activities to engage students and make abstract concepts concrete. Our teachers have participated in professional learning through Top Ten Mathematics, which emphasises rich, hands-on problem-solving experiences that deepen conceptual understanding.

Mahogany Maths Magicians

To inspire motivation and celebrate achievement, Mahogany Rise runs a unique program called Mahogany Maths Magicians. Each student works toward a targeted learning goal within a coloured set of skill levels. As students master each stage, they are recognised at assembly by the school’s very own Maths Magician and receive a certificate and coloured wristband to mark their progress.

This program encourages goal setting, celebrates growth, and builds a positive maths culture across the school.

Why the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM) 2.0 matters for us

It aligns our teaching with the latest evidence about how learning works: how attention and working memory function, how knowledge is built, and how fluency and transfer (applying learning in new contexts) are achieved.

Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0

It provides a consistent, school-wide language and set of expectations for high-quality instruction, ensuring all teachers plan, deliver and monitor learning in a coherent way.

It supports our commitment to structured, explicit teaching, gradual release, high-quality modelling and supported practice — approaches we already value highly and which align perfectly with our instructional model.

What VTLM 2.0 looks like in our classrooms

Elements of Learning: We pay attention to how students learn. For example: creating environments where students can focus, building and linking new knowledge to what they already know, structuring practice so it’s retained and recalled, and supporting mastery and application of skills.

Elements of Teaching: Our lessons are planned, delivered and monitored using the four key teaching elements of the VTLM 2.0:

• Planning – designing effective units and lessons that build progressively
• Enabling Learning – establishing positive, inclusive classrooms where students feel safe, challenged, and supported
• Explicit Teaching – making clear what is being learned, modelling how it is done, using scaffolds and worked examples, then guiding students’ practise
• Supported Application – providing opportunities for students to apply learning independently, with feedback, in varied contexts.

How VTLM 2.0 supports our school improvement goals

• It strengthens our whole-school alignment: when every educator uses the same evidence-based framework, students experience continuity and clarity in their learning journey.
• It helps us focus on fairness and effectiveness: by using strategies known to accelerate learning, we ensure all students — including those requiring additional support and those ready for extension — benefit.
• It drives professional growth: our staff engage in professional learning that explores the “why”, the “how” and the “what” of teaching practice, aligned to VTLM 2.0.
• It makes our learning visible: students understand what they are learning, why it matters and how they will know they’ve succeeded — a fundamental principle of the framework.