TalkTime Keys Success – World Literacy Summit
St John’s Anglican College Junior School teachers, Mrs Ronnelle Sanders and Mrs Deb Wilson recently presented their work on TalkTime Keys at the World Literacy Summit held at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. The conference brought together leaders from 85 countries with the aim of advocating, championing, and educating on the importance of improving literacy levels across the globe.
Mrs Sanders and Mrs Wilson presented their innovative resource, developed to enhance children’s oral language skills at home with the support of their parents. The TalkTime Keys project was developed through an ISQ Action Research grant and became an important parent engagement tool, before, during, and post-COVID. The teachers elaborated on how the keys came about, how they are used by St John’s families, and the sustainability plans for the future.
The teachers’ topic, “Our Keys to Success – An Innovative Resource to Get Families Talking and Reading Together,” was very well received by the conference delegates. Many people stayed after their presentation to speak further about the amazing teaching and learning experiences that happen at St John’s Anglican College. Delegates were keen to look at ways they can now enhance parent engagement in their own countries and schools as a result of the presentation and subsequent conversations.
A highlight for the teachers was meeting Mr Andrew Kay, a fellow Australian, and CEO of the World Literacy Foundation who conducts this summit every two years. They were also fortunate to hear some amazing speakers such as Dr Nadine Gaab from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and be inspired by young people like Stacey Fru, a 16-year-old South African author and founder of the Stacey Fru Foundation, a charity dedicated to improving access to education for children in South Africa’s rural areas.
Overall, the key message at the summit was the need to continue to develop the oral language skills of children, particularly in the first five years of life, as it is crucial to ongoing literacy success and underpins all future reading and writing success.
Mrs Sanders and Mrs Wilson are very grateful to have had this cultural experience and to have been able to share the wonderful Oracy work that happens at St John’s Anglican College with the rest of the world.
