From the Deputy Headmaster/Head of Junior School

THRASS: a powerful resource supporting literacy at SPSC

For over 14 years, the Junior School at SPSC has been committed to using THRASS as a resource to support the teaching of handwriting, reading and spelling strategies to our students. We have remained committed to ongoing professional learning for our teachers and education support officers, and this has positively influenced the experience our boys have in the classroom.

When comparing our School’s average 2024 NAPLAN Spelling results, our boys are achieving above students with similar backgrounds, and well above when compared to all Australian students.

As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen connections with other schools using THRASS to support students’ literacy learning, we hosted a THRASS Collaboration Day on Monday 31 March. Staff from Seymour College, Brompton Primary School and The Southport School – an Anglican boys’ school in Queensland – joined us to see how our teachers and support staff use THRASS in our context.

It was a valuable opportunity for our teachers to share their practice with colleagues from outside SPSC. I thank all our staff for warmly welcoming our visitors and generously sharing their approach. I’d like to give particular thanks to India Sanders, Katherine Andonas and Jo Tierney, who invited our guests into their classrooms to observe how THRASS is meaningfully integrated into our programs. I’m also grateful to Evie Western for her insightful presentation on how THRASS is used in our Prep program. A special thanks to the Year 3 students who stayed after school to teach our visitors a THRASS card game they can now take back and use in their own schools.

It was excellent to reflect on each of our schools’ THRASS journeys, reflecting on the challenges, and celebrating the successes. It was also mutually beneficial for us to share teacher made resources to further support our ongoing use of THRASS. We are confident in our approach to teaching literacy in the Junior School at SPSC and are grateful to staff from The Southport School, Seymour College and Brompton Primary School for their ongoing collaboration in professional learning opportunities.

Jasmine Taylor
Deputy Headmaster – Head of Junior School

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