Students are reaping the benefits of new and exciting approaches to the foundational areas of learning - literacy and numeracy. With National Literacy and Numeracy Week coming up, St Felix's Primary, Bankstown shares their new approach to teaching literacy.

Lauren O'Neill has been teaching for almost six years. A year-and-a-half of that time was spent teaching in London. One thing her teaching experiences have taught her over this time is that literacy is a key ingredient for successful student learning.

Now teaching at St Felix's Primary, Bankstown, where 98 per cent of the students come from non-English-speaking backgrounds, Lauren has found that many parents have little or no English themselves and can offer only minimal language support to their children.

"If a student enters Kindergarten with limited English-speaking skills, the gap is only going to get wider, unless something is done quickly," she says.

"The challenge at our school this year has been to address this and to ensure that learning literacy remains interesting and relevant for all our students."

This year, St Felix's designed an innovative literacy program combining both conventional means and modern computer technology, such as 'Smartboards', to engage the students and ensure they don't struggle with literacy as a result of their native language.

Their new Multi-modal Literacy program was co-developed by CEO, Sydney and Australian Catholic University, whose research has shown that teaching strategies which integrate information and communication technology improves student engagement and performance.

Lauren says that the students' literacy has been improving due to the new combined use of strategies.

"They are so engaged and amazed by the technology, and seem more motivated and challenged. For them it just seems like play, but they are also learning so much."

National Literacy and Numeracy Week 2008 events include:

1-5 September 'Reach for the Stars'
3 September 'National Reading Day'
5 September 'Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards'

For more information visit www.literacyandnumeracy.gov.au