"I find myself filled with joy when I walk past their rooms at bedtime and they are reading to themselves."

At the beginning of 2023 we moved our two children to Hereworth school. Elsie started in Year 4 in the very first intake of girls and James started in Year 1. We were attracted to Hereworth for several different reasons, but the main draw cards were smaller class sizes, learning support and the structured literacy program. Our daughter Elsie was struggling academically and before starting at Hereworth we had her attending tutoring outside of school twice a week.

In the first two weeks of starting at Hereworth Elsie underwent several different tests to see where she was at. They very quickly realised she was not at the level she should be for her age. My husband and I were contacted and together with the teachers a plan was put in place to try and help Elsie catch up to her peers. The school organised a dyslexia test which was carried out at school, and she now attends Learning Support twice a week at Hereworth during class time with a couple of other children from her class. The Learning Support team and home teachers work closely together. 

We have found the structure literacy program is really working its magic with our kids. The rules they learn around spelling through this programme seems to be clicking. When doing their homework, I hear them saying little mnemonics out loud as they are trying to spell a word they don’t know. I have also seen both use their phoneming fingers when trying to spell a word, it’s quite amazing. Their reading has improved tremendously in the 18 months at Hereworth. They have now got a real love for books and reading. It is a wonderful thing to witness this improvement and I find myself filled with joy when I walk past their rooms at bedtime and they are reading to themselves. 

Elsie discovered her love of the library in her first few weeks at Hereworth. It started as a place for her to go in her lunch breaks and has grown into a place that fills her with confidence. She enjoys the range of e-books the children can access through the library. This is another great way for children to read more and this has increased her knowledge through books. Her passion for the library was acknowledged early this year when she was named the youngest school Librarian. This was a huge confidence boost for a child who has slight dyslexia and taught her if you are passionate about something and driven you can do anything.

At Hereworth the maths is streamed from Year 4 and upwards. I wasn’t sure about this initially but I have quickly changed my mind and like it. Elsie enjoys going into a different class with children of all ages with a different teacher for an hour a day. The children have access to online maths programmes where the teacher sets tasks and the children can complete them at home. They both enjoy these as they have a reward-type component to them. In the junior school, the children that complete the most tasks in their maths whizz programme received a medal at the end of year assembly. Wow, what a motivator a medal is for these kids!

The improvement we have witnessed in our children I believe comes down to three things - Small class sizes, programmes like structured literacy, but most importantly the teachers. The smaller class sizes enable the teachers to know every child inside and out, know their strengths and weaknesses and have the time to put into each individual child. Our son James has 12 children in his class! The passion, commitment and energy these teachers have and put into the children is incredible.

We feel very lucky to have found such a wonderful school that has already made such a positive impact on our kids’ lives.

Monique Stead

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Elsie and James are just wonderful kids, and seeing them both improve and grow during their time at Hereworth is so rewarding for our teachers and staff.

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