Close Menu
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Local History
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Read Our Newspapers Online
    • Read the Latest Western Port News
    • Read the Latest Mornington News
    • Read the Latest Southern Peninsula News
    • Read the Latest Frankston Times
    • Read the Latest Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News
  • Competition
  • Home New
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Wednesday, July 2
Breaking News
  • E-bike rider charged following fatal collision in Hastings
Facebook X (Twitter)
MPNEWSMPNEWS
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Local History
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Home New
Breaking News
MPNEWSMPNEWS
Home»News»Second ‘village’ added to learning program
News

Second ‘village’ added to learning program

By Stephen TaylorJuly 24, 2018Updated:August 2, 2018No Comments2 Mins Read
Back to school: Volunteers training for the Somerville R4L program at St Brendan’s Primary School are, from left, Stephanie Exton, Georgie Harland and Gillian Francis. Pictures: Gary Sissons
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email
Back to school: Volunteers training for the Somerville R4L program at St Brendan’s Primary School are, from left, Stephanie Exton, Georgie Harland and Gillian Francis. Pictures: Gary Sissons

THE adage “it takes a village to raise a child” has been proven to work over the past 12 years as Hastings’ schools, kindergartens, service organisations and volunteers collaborate in the Linking Schools and Early Years partnership.

The service organisations – Good Shepherd Youth and family Services, Hastings Western Port Rotary Club, Western Port Catholic Parish, businesses, agencies and volunteers – adhere to the linking schools’ philosophy that children living in Hastings are the community’s joint responsibility.

Their aim is to develop and implement strategies to benefit all the area’s children.

Recently retired St Mary’s Primary School, Hastings principal Richard Mucha is adamant this “unique, whole town approach to education has enabled huge improvements in student outcomes to occur”: “Since 2009, Australian Early Development Census figures show that in the area of Language and Cognitive Development, student vulnerability in Hastings has been reduced by 19.1 per cent, compared to a 0.2 per cent increase in vulnerability for Victoria as a whole.”

The program is now starting in Somerville. Initially, in Term Two, it will comprise Somerville, St Brendan’s and Somerville Rise primary schools in the Reading for Life (R4L) program running concurrently with the Hastings R4L program.

About 85 pupils, mostly in grades 2-4, will take part. Psychologists from the firm Learning Links, who developed R4L, will pre-test pupils the schools have selected and train volunteers in the use of the R4L packs.

Volunteers will then work one-on-one with pupils for 15 one-hour sessions after which the psychologists will test the pupils again.

Mr Mucha said results for the eight years that R4L has been conducted in Hastings show an average improvement of seven months in sight words; an average of 12.37 per cent in improvement of knowledge of sounds; 8.44 per cent improvement in reading confidence; nine months improvement in reading accuracy; and, 8.7 months improvement in reading comprehension.

The R4L programs in Somerville and Hastings are run with 70 volunteers and the help of sponsors The Rali Foundation, The Mornington Peninsula Foundation, BlueScope Steel, The Coast Real Estate, Hastings Western Port Rotary Club, Somerville Tyabb Rotary Club, and Western Port Catholic Parish.

First published in the Western Port News – 24 July 2018

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

Railway station scam

July 1, 2025

Flinders result unaffected by poll blunder – AEC

July 1, 2025

Grand Hotel’s tower revamp signals new chapter for icon

June 26, 2025

McCrae telco tower refused over visual impact

June 26, 2025
Add A Comment

Comments are closed.

Peninsula Essence Magazine – Click to Read
Peninsula Kids Magazine – Click to Read
Letters to the Editor
Property of the Week

14 Bass Street, McCrae

June 3, 2025
Council Watch

Shire secures $3.9m to tackle road safety

June 16, 2025

Kinder flyer flag snub prompts councillors to take over

June 10, 2025
100 Years Ago This Week

Baxter – On The ‘Wallaby’ with a walking group

July 1, 2025
Interview

Firefighter shows skills from sea to snow

February 5, 2024
Menu
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Local History
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Home New
About

Established in 2006, Mornington Peninsula News Group (MPNG) is a locally owned and operated, independent media company.

MPNG publishes five weekly community newspapers: the Western Port News, Mornington News, Southern Peninsula News, Frankston Times and Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News.

MPNG also publishes two glossy magazines: Peninsula Essence and Peninsula Kids.

Facebook X (Twitter)
© 2025 Mornington Peninsula News Group.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.