Bisset School is a school of approximately 330 students from Kindergarten to Year Six, where children's individual differences will be accommodated, within the curriculum. Programs will be provided to develop academic achievement and positive self-esteem, so children feel successful in a school setting. Our school has a language arts base with an emphasis on reading comprehension. Communication skills are essential in developing the necessary thinking process for handling all learning. Children need to become critical, logical, creative, and social thinkers.

It is the right of all children to experience success: through our literature-based program, children will maximize their individual potential, which promotes positive self-esteem and academic achievement. We want students to care about themselves as learners, others in their world, and the environment in which they live.

At Bisset School we believe that the more children read, the better readers they'll become; and the more they write, the better writers they will become. Since each child is unique, a literature-based program provides an ideal way to meet individual needs and interests. Children learn best in a safe, secure environment where they feel free to be creative, ask questions and share their experiences, thereby taking responsibility for their learning.

In a literature-based program, students are actively involved in using literature.

This interactive process consists of:

• exposure to a wide variety of literature (e.g., novel studies, listening to stories, silent reading, guided reading, shared reading, home reading, and creating their own stories).
• responding to literature in a variety of ways (e.g., daily writing, class books, drama, role playing, discussions).
• incorporating literature into other curricular areas to provide background, experiences, and extensions of content.
• using questioning strategies to promote higher level thinking skills.

The following are some of the vehicles used to teach the important mechanics of reading and writing: spelling, grammar, phonics, word attack skills, comprehension, printing, cursive writing, etc.