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Transforming the way we help struggling readers to catch up: Lessons learnt by Parafield Gardens High School
Transforming the way we help struggling readers to catch up:
Lessons learnt by Parafield Gardens High School
Date: Tuesday 28 May
Time: 7pm – 8pm AEST
Location: Online
In this special Grattan Institute online event series, our Deputy Education Program Director, Amy Haywood, will talk with school leaders from two of the case-study schools profiled in Grattan’s recent report, The Reading Guarantee: How to give every child the best chance of success.
Churchill Primary School in regional Victoria and Parafield Gardens High School in suburban Adelaide have both overhauled their approach to teaching reading and helping struggling students to catch up – with stunning success.
In this second webinar, Amy will speak with Kirsty Amos, Christine D’Arcy, and Stasha Demosthenous, the Principal, Speech Pathologist, and Literacy Coordinator at Parafield Gardens High.They will discuss their school’s shift to implement a tiered intervention approach to help struggling readers catch-up.
The move required significant investment in screening and training of staff, and a re-organisation of the school’s timetable. But the payoffs have been remarkable – students who receive catch-up support have shown big improvements and are more engaged in school.
Kirsty, Christine, and Stasha will talk about why – and how – they overhauled their approach to supporting students’ reading. And we will set aside time so they can answer your questions.
Whether you’re a school leader, teacher, parent, or anyone passionate about giving all students a fair chance at reading success, you won’t want to miss these valuable insights straight from the classroom.
Panel
Amy Haywood
Amy is the Deputy Director of Grattan Institute’s Education Program. She is a former teacher and brings this practical experience to her work as an education policy researcher. Before joining Grattan, Amy worked as a manager in Deloitte Access Economics’ Education Policy team.
Kirsty Amos
Kirsty is the Principal at Parafield Gardens High in Adelaide and has previously been the Principal at Moonta Area School and Penola High School. Since 2021, she has worked with her leadership team to implement a tiered intervention approach, hiring a speech pathologist, re-organising the school timetable, training staff, and purchasing curriculum materials.
Christine D’Arcy
Christine is a senior speech pathologist with the South Australian Department for Education and based at Parafield Gardens High. She has worked alongside the school’s leadership team to implement a literacy screening process and a tiered intervention approach to helping struggling readers. Christine also provides one-on-one help for struggling older readers.
Stasha Demosthenous
Stasha is the Literacy Coordinator at Parafield Gardens High. She manages the school’s intensive Reading Acceleration Program (RAP), which targets support to Year 7 and 8 students struggling with decoding. Stasha also supports all staff to improve their approach to explicitly teaching vocabulary, morphology, and writing.