Case Studies, 2011

Stephen – in Fitzroy Crossing

Stephen is 8 years old  and lives in Fitzroy Crossing.  Neither of his parents can reader or write.
Now in grade 4, Stephen was referred to the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation by his school who are part of the Books for Learning program.

When Stephen was tested at the start of 2011, he was not only unable to read but had no real knowledge of the alphabet – only recognizing about half the letters.

A program was arranged with visits from a tutor twice a week. The plan was to teach Stephen the alphabet; the sound of the letters and the basic blended sounds. Stephen was a keen and willing learner and by the end of first term, he had learned the sounds and grasped the basic concept of reading.

At the start of Second term, his class teacher reported to the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation tutor Stephen was not only attending school more regularly but was even occasionally involved in class reading activities.

The tutor introduced Stephen to books he could actually read by himself. This is a set that deals with subjects interesting to older children but using very simple words. One such story was about a football match which appealed to Stephen. He ended up learning the whole story by heart.

“I was scared to speak up in class because I couldn’t read the exercises on the board or on work sheets. Other kids used to bag me and I skipped school a bit. About a year ago I started getting tutored. At first the tutor just helped me get my assignments in on time but after a while I really started to read better.”
Willy, Year 9

“My mum can’t read too good and can’t help me much with my school work. The tutor has been great and I’m much better at reading now.”
Sophie, Year 5