• Around 100 educators to attend professional development event on reading and writing by young children
• CSU literacy expert to present latest work aimed to assist more children to engage with reading and writing in the modern era

Around 100 primary school and early childhood educators will meet in Albury on Thursday evening, 21 March, to learn about how young children learn about print, particularly on reading print and writing letters.

The guest speaker, leading educational researcher Associate Professor Noella Mackenzie from the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Education, will share her insights on this important topic, especially from her own recent studies.

“The skills of ‘looking at print’ and ‘writing letters correctly’ are important skills for all young learners to develop,” said Professor Mackenzie.

“Learning how to engage with print is not a natural process like learning how to talk, particularly as the rules that apply to written English are different to other languages.

“How teachers support children as they grapple with these challenges affects their ongoing success as readers and writers.”

Professor Mackenzie is delivering the first professional learning session for 2019 for the Riverina Murray branch of the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association (ALEA). The event is being hosted by Holy Spirit School in Lavington from 4.30 to 6pm on Thursday 21 March.

ALEA is an independent professional association dedicated to literacy and English language learning, from early childhood through all stages of schooling and tertiary education.