Known for our impressive NAPLAN results, at 51Сʪ we cultivate a love of literature to build a powerful reading culture, boosting literacy for our students.
Our results and strategies have caught the attention of Renaissance Australia, the provider of reading programs – Star Reader and Accelerated Reader (AR) used at 51Сʪ.
They were so impressed by our avid readers – our Primary students read over 300 million words by the end of Term 3 – that they created a case study to find out how we did it.


In the case study, 51Сʪ’s Primary Head of Curriculum (Prep – Year 2), Mrs Kirsten van der Walt, said that when students love reading, it positively impacts all areas of the curriculum.
“A strong reading culture comes from all parties – parents, students, and teachers. It starts in Prep, even before children can read. By building daily routines, embedding teacher-led reading, and using AR and Star Reading to provide clear, individualised goals, schools can set students up for lifelong reading success.”

51Сʪ has also run seminars such as Moving Beyond the Home Reading Program, where parents are introduced to AR, shown how to access accounts, and taught how to track progress.
“Parents really value the support. Even for students on AR, we encourage parents to listen to their children read aloud so they don’t lose fluency and accuracy,” Kirsten said.
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