Ben Munday with students reading at Holy Family Primary
Do you remember learning to drive? Even if you’ve never learned, you can probably imagine the process.
At first, there is SO much to remember and it can seem overwhelming. When you try to focus on getting the clutch right, you forget about putting on your indicator. Just when you feel you’ve got the hang of second gear, your teacher says “Now shift into third”.
If you had professional lessons, your instructor’s car had a second set of pedals on their side of the car. This way, they could share some of the control just in case you were about to drive them into a wall.
So what does all this have to do with reading?
Good readers are like good drivers. We use many, many different skills and processes all at the same time without even noticing. And just like you learn to change gears and steer so you can use the car to get somewhere, when we read we use all the different skills for a higher purpose – to make meaning from written words. In other words, to understand, or comprehend what we read. ‘Getting all the words right’ is less important than understanding what we read.
Just like driving teachers, school teachers use a ‘gradual release of responsibility’ model when teaching reading.
- In Modelled Reading, the teacher is in control.
- In Shared Reading, the teacher leads and the children join in.
- In Guided Reading, the children lead and the teacher joins in if necessary.
- In Independent Reading, the child leads and is in control.
- Read to your children every day in any language – even five minutes is a good start
- Talk about what you have read
- Talk about movies and games and compare them to stories you know
- Listen to your children read their home readers to you
- Have books available for your children to read for pleasure
- Take your children to the library to borrow books, magazines, books on CDs, anything!
- Teach your children to read a menu, a shopping list, a catalogue, a bus timetable, anything!
Mr Benjamin Munday
Assistant Principal
Holy Family East Granville
Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
www.parra.catholic.edu.au
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11 Sep 2026
From Facebook
๐ Global Environments | Year 6 ๐๐ฟ On Tuesday, Year 6 embarked on a hands-on โGlobal Environmentsโ excursion to Clifton Gardens, exploring how climate, vegetation and human impact shape our world. ๐ฑ๐ Throughout the day, students discovered the cultural and ecological importance of World Heritage sites and learned how deeply humans depend on natural environments for essential food and resources. ๐๐ Students put their learning into practice through a range of hands-on experiences, including building beach shelters ๐๏ธ, trying hand-reel fishing ๐ฃ, experimenting with waterworks ๐ง, and catching bugs ๐ to investigate local biodiversity. It was a fantastic day of learning, exploration and discovery! ๐๐ฟ๐09 Sep 2026
From Facebook
Year 2 has been exploring time in Maths! โฐ We looked at clocks ๐ฐ๏ธ learning how to read o'clock, half past, quarter-to, and quarter-past times. ๐ Halfway through, we switched gears! โ๏ธ Now we are looking at the duration of different events โฑ๏ธ and will be exploring a calendar ๐ to countdown to different events... we might start with working out how many school days until the holidays!! ๐โก๏ธ๐๏ธ ๐ญ Year 3 Drama Literacy ๐ญ During Drama Literacy, Year 3 explored the idea of accidents through the familiar story of Humpty Dumpty ๐ฅโจ. Students used their bodies to embody different types of accidents, thinking creatively about how each situation might look and feel. They then explored the emotions of shock, determination, terror and pride ๐ฒ๐ช๐ฑ๐, using facial expressions, body movements and poses to communicate each feeling โ all without saying a word! ๐ญ๐
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11 Sep 2026
From Facebook
๐ Global Environments | Year 6 ๐๐ฟ On Tuesday, Year 6 embarked on a hands-on โGlobal Environmentsโ excursion to Clifton Gardens, exploring how climate, vegetation and human impact shape our world. ๐ฑ๐ Throughout the day, students discovered the cultural and ecological importance of World Heritage sites and learned how deeply humans depend on natural environments for essential food and resources. ๐๐ Students put their learning into practice through a range of hands-on experiences, including building beach shelters ๐๏ธ, trying hand-reel fishing ๐ฃ, experimenting with waterworks ๐ง, and catching bugs ๐ to investigate local biodiversity. It was a fantastic day of learning, exploration and discovery! ๐๐ฟ๐
09 Sep 2026
From Facebook
Year 2 has been exploring time in Maths! โฐ We looked at clocks ๐ฐ๏ธ learning how to read o'clock, half past, quarter-to, and quarter-past times. ๐ Halfway through, we switched gears! โ๏ธ Now we are looking at the duration of different events โฑ๏ธ and will be exploring a calendar ๐ to countdown to different events... we might start with working out how many school days until the holidays!! ๐โก๏ธ๐๏ธ ๐ญ Year 3 Drama Literacy ๐ญ During Drama Literacy, Year 3 explored the idea of accidents through the familiar story of Humpty Dumpty ๐ฅโจ. Students used their bodies to embody different types of accidents, thinking creatively about how each situation might look and feel. They then explored the emotions of shock, determination, terror and pride ๐ฒ๐ช๐ฑ๐, using facial expressions, body movements and poses to communicate each feeling โ all without saying a word! ๐ญ๐
06 Sep 2026
From Facebook
Heavenly Father, You entrusted Your Son Jesus to the care of Joseph, an earthly father. Bless all fathers and father figures as they care for their families. Give them strength and wisdom, tenderness and patience. Support them in their daily work, and let Your face shine upon them with grace and peace. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. ๐๐ป Wishing all the special men in the Holy Family community a happy Fatherโs Dayโญ๏ธ๐โญ๏ธ
04 Sep 2026
From Facebook
๐ A special morning celebrating all the incredible people who take on the role of a father in our childrenโs lives! ๐ We started our morning with a delicious Fatherโs Day Breakfast, bringing our school community together for smiles, laughter and precious moments shared with the special dads, grandfathers, stepdads and father figures who mean so much to our students. ๐ณโ๏ธ๐จโ๐งโ๐ฆ We then gathered for a beautiful Fatherโs Day Mass, giving thanks for the love, guidance, support and encouragement our dads and father figures provide each day. ๐โจ Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make our morning so special. ๐ Happy Fatherโs Day to all our amazing dads and father figures! ๐๐ Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
02 Sep 2026
From Facebook
๐ ๐ฆ Year 2 Goes WILD! ๐๐ง Today, our Year 2 students headed off on an exciting adventure to SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium and WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo! ๐๐ฆ From discovering incredible underwater creatures ๐๐ข to getting up close with some of Australiaโs amazing wildlife ๐ฆ๐จ, our students had a fantastic day of learning, exploring and making memories together! ๐โจ What a WILD day for Year 2! ๐๐พ๐
01 Sep 2026
From Facebook
Celebrating Our School Community, Safely ๐ You may begin to notice some changes in the way we share photos of our students on our public social media pages. We love giving our families a glimpse into school life and celebrating the learning, achievements, friendships, faith experiences and special moments that make our community so wonderful. However, as technology continues to evolve, particularly with the rapid growth of artificial intelligence and the ways images can be accessed, altered and shared online, we are becoming increasingly mindful of how we share identifiable images of our students publicly. Our studentsโ privacy and online safety must always come first. Donโt worry, our socials arenโt disappearing! We will continue to celebrate all the wonderful things happening across our school, from learning and sporting achievements to liturgies, excursions, performances and special events. You may simply notice fewer full-face or individually identifiable photographs of students appearing on our public social media pages. ๐ฑ Families wonโt miss out! More photos and special moments will be shared directly with our families through Compass, providing a more appropriate space for us to celebrate and share our studentsโ experiences. The way we share may be changing, but there will certainly be no shortage of wonderful things to celebrate. ๐ Thank you for supporting us as we continue to navigate an ever-changing digital world while keeping the safety, privacy and wellbeing of our students at the centre of our decisions. Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
01 Sep 2026
From Facebook
๐ Support Staff Appreciation Week ๐ Today we celebrated our amazing support staff and the incredible difference they make every day. From supporting learning and navigating big emotions to offering encouragement and care, they are such an important part of our Holy Family community. Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
28 Aug 2026
Our schools are cracking the reading code
Do you remember how you learned to read? For a vital skill that is linked to all other learning, itโs surprisingly difficult to explain how to go about learning it.
27 Aug 2026
From Facebook
๐ถ๐ A SYMPHONY OF STORIES! ๐๐ถ Today, our school was filled with characters, creativity and a whole lot of BOOK WEEK MAGIC! โจ๐๐ญ In celebration of Childrenโs Book Week 2026 and this yearโs theme, โSymphony of Storiesโ, our students brought the pages of their favourite books to life! ๐ Just like a symphony brings together different instruments to create something wonderful, stories bring together different characters, voices, adventures and ideas to create a world of imagination. ๐ถ๐๐ซ From magical creatures and courageous heroes to much-loved storybook characters, our school was certainly making some beautiful literary music today! ๐งโโ๏ธ๐ฆธโโ๏ธ๐ป๐ A huge thank you to our wonderful families and staff for helping make today such a special celebration of the joy of reading. ๐ ๐ถ Every story has a voice. Every book has an adventure. Together, they create our Symphony of Stories! ๐โจ Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
25 Aug 2026
From Facebook
In Maths, Year 2 has been learning about 2D shapes ๐. We explored the language of quarter-turns, half-turns and full-turns ๐. We used the Beebots ๐ to strengthen our understanding of the language and compared it to the clock โฐ to discuss clockwise and anticlockwise. Check out our Year 2 mathematicians hard at work! ๐บ๏ธ Mapping Our Way! ๐งญโจ Year 3 students have been learning how to draw and read maps using legends and symbols! ๐๐ They have been practising how to use symbols to represent different features and using a legend to work out what each symbol means. ๐๐บ๏ธ Theyโre becoming confident little mapmakers! ๐โจ
23 Aug 2026
From Facebook
๐โจ BOOK WEEK IS HERE! โจ๐ Get ready to celebrate Childrenโs Book Week 2026 โ Symphony of Stories! ๐ถ๐ We have a fantastic week ahead filled with books, imagination and plenty of fun, including our Book Performance, Book Fair, Author Visit, family picnic and our much-loved Character Parade! ๐ ๐ Thursday 27 August is our BIG celebration! ๐งบ 1:40pm โ Families are invited to bring a picnic blanket or cushions, find a spot on the grass and share a book with your child. ๐ญ 2:30pm โ Stay and enjoy our Character Parade on P2! Students are invited to come dressed as a favourite book character and donโt forget to bring your completed Character Profile with you! We canโt wait to see our school come alive with a Symphony of Stories! ๐๐ถโจ
20 Aug 2026
From Facebook
Year 1 students have been making their own promises as they begin to explore the meaning of a covenantโa special promise between God and His people. Through their promises, students are learning that covenants are about love, trust and keeping our promises to one another. ๐ Year 5 have been exploring the world of data! ๐ They have been interpreting a range of graphs and writing statements about what they noticed, before collecting their own real-time data by tracking how often they contributed to class discussions. ๐ฌ They will then use their data to create their own graphs and represent their findings visually! ๐๐
20 Aug 2026
Six Habits That Help Children Develop a Love of Reading
Book Week is a celebration of stories, imagination and creativity, but helping children love reading isn't just something that happens during one week of the year. The good news? It doesn't take expensive resources or hours of extra time. Often, it's the small, everyday habits that make the biggest difference.
19 Aug 2026
From Facebook
โ Vinnies Winter Sleepout โ Faith in Action โ Our students took part in a meaningful evening of prayer, meditation, learning and service as part of our Vinnies Winter Sleepout. Using Davidโs story and reflected on how quickly and unexpectedly people in our community can be one crisis away from homelessness. Students shared a simple meal of soup, a bread roll, fruit and water, before gathering in our Holy Family Prayer Garden for a Liturgy of the Word, where they led us beautifully in prayer and song. We finished the evening with a team-building challenge, constructing our own shelters. While this was a fun experience for us, it carried an important message, for many people, finding a safe place to sleep is not a game or a choice. It helped our students finish the night with a deeper sense of gratitude, compassion and responsibility to care for others. Through our Faith in Action initiatives, our Holy Family community has raised $1,277 so far to support the vision and mission of the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW and the important work they do supporting people experiencing hardship and homelessness. Thank you to our students, families and staff for continuing to put our faith into action.๐ Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese Vinnies Australia
15 Aug 2026
From Facebook
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Mary is being taken body and soul into heaven. The Assumption reminds us that Maryโs life was a perfect โyesโ to God, and because of that, she was drawn fully into His glory body and soul. It is a feast of hope. Her Assumption is not only a moment of triumph; it is a promise. A promise that holiness is not wasted, that love is not forgotten, and that every faithful โyesโ is gathered into eternity.