As we continue our journey towards academic excellence, it is essential to address the areas where our students need the most support. One such area, as highlighted by our student data, is reading. To foster a love for reading and improve comprehension skills, our dedicated teachers have been focusing on the strategy of read-alouds.

Read-alouds, though commonly associated with primary education, are a powerful tool that can greatly benefit secondary school students as well. This strategy involves teachers reading texts aloud to students, modeling fluent reading, and demonstrating how to approach and decode a text to create meaning. By speaking out loud their own thinking and decoding process, teachers model for students how to navigate complex texts and create meaning from them. This helps students gain a deeper understanding of the material and develop critical thinking skills.

At Carmel College, our teachers have embraced this approach and have been actively incorporating read-alouds into their lessons. This initiative aims to show students how to navigate complex texts, understand context, and engage with the content on a deeper level. By listening to their teachers think aloud, students can hear the process that an expert reader uses to comprehend various texts.

We believe that by modeling these skills, our students will become more confident readers and better equipped to tackle challenging texts. This method also encourages a collaborative learning environment where students can discuss and analyze the material together, further enhancing their understanding.

We are proud of the efforts our teachers are making to improve reading skills at Carmel College. Their commitment to professional development and innovative teaching strategies is truly commendable. We ask parents to encourage their children to read at home, to foster a love for reading. 

God Bless,

Mr Reuben Chalmers

Deputy Principal