Language is the most powerful tool that humans have.

People who can use language fluently and confidently, to good effect, creatively when appropriate, are taking a giant step forward in their quest to become successful adults. Everyone needs to be able to communicate their feelings, express their opinions, explore their thoughts, argue their case, sing their soul; in short, to use their own voices, and to convey a sense of themselves to others.

The general aim of the English program then is to help students achieve a sophisticated level of language usage, so that they can listen and understand, so that they can read and write. To this end, reading is taught by way of Structured Synthetic Phonics, considered the ‘gold standard’ of literacy instruction.
Candlebark has followed a phonics-based approach to the teaching of reading since our inception, as we have always been more concerned about evidence and ‘what works’ than trends. This approach is now mandated across Victorian schools. We follow the Sound Waves system, a Prep to Year 6 program that is delivering excellent results.

But of course there is much more to communication than the mere acquisition of language and writing and reading skills. As the jazz musician Charlie Parker memorably remarked: “you learn all the notes and chords and scales, and you practise them and practise them until you’ve got them right, and then you throw all that crap away and just play.”

Young children are naturally poetic, in their daily endeavours to make language do what they want it to do. The challenge is to help them develop their vocabularies and their understanding of syntax, and their ability to use increasingly sophisticated rhythms and patterns of speech, without robbing them of their poetic expression.

Implicit and explicit in our teaching of language is the understanding that English is an infinitely malleable tool. It can be made to do anything. It is for the user of language to determine what he or she wants English to do, and then to make the language do it. It is not for English to bully us; rather, it is we who should bully English.

The school offers all of the above, but then something much more. We are in a unique position to cater for the student who wants to take a particular interest in writing, perhaps with a view to a professional career. Students wishing to specialise in this area will achieve a sophisticated and detailed understanding of characterisation, plot, style, pacing and editing.