Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thought the member for Wills was on such a roll he was going to use up the remaining 40-odd seconds of his time in defence of the—

An honourable member: Efficiency.

That's exactly what we've given the ABC and SBS: efficiency. It's always a pleasure to stand in this place and speak about the terrific support that the Turnbull government is providing for Queensland schools through its record funding to ensure that we guarantee these essential services, but all this off the back of a strong economy.

What I'd like to talk about today is the importance of children having good, strong literacy skills. We all know that when a student falls behind it can often be difficult to catch up. At Loganlea State High School a group of dedicated students and tutors are seeking to break that cycle with a fantastic program, led by Macquarie University Professor Kevin Wheldall AM, called MultiLit, or 'Making up Lost Time in Literacy'. In half-hour sessions three or four times a week, tutors work with a diverse group of students to help equip them with foundational reading skills. These skills are the backbone of learning not only in literacy but in all subject areas. At the moment there are some 113 students across all grades that are associated with the MultiLit program. MultiLit has established itself as a leader in effective literacy instruction because of its grounding in scientific, evidence based best practice. Over the last 23 years this program has provided assistance to thousands of students in a variety of settings including schools like Loganlea State High School, their own literacy centre, and community based literacy projects across Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

Loganlea State High School has adopted and successfully used these programs since 2014 to cater to the diversity of children within their school. The diversity of students accessing their program at Loganlea is broad, and therefore the resources required to target the literacy intervention are also broad. Students arrive at Loganlea at this level for a multitude of reasons. But, despite this, the MultiLit program has many success stories. For example, a young boy who took up the program when he began grade 7 had a learning disability that, until then, had drastically limited his reading ability. Most students work through the MultiLit program in a couple of terms. However, this boy was supported by MultiLit for a year. This is one of the many advantages of the program, in that it allows the school to cater for the very specific learning needs of some students. After completing the MultiLit program, the student was extended through the accelerated reader program. This enabled him to consistently practise his newfound reading skills and develop his comprehension skills. This student is now in grade 9. One of the MultiLit tutors recently checked in on him and found that his reading and comprehension now matches his age. It is not only that; he now visits his local public library on a weekly basis to devour every manga comic he can find. Reading has become more than a set of skills for him; it has become a hobby.

MultiLit has assisted hundreds of secondary students to successfully fill gaps in their reading skills, enabling them to access the high school curriculum alongside their peers. Without the MultiLit program at Loganlea, struggling students would suffer in the regular class environment and continue to slip further behind their classmates as they simply cannot pick up the necessary skills without this explicit instruction and practice.

I'm very pleased to be informed by the school that every student who has completed the program has dramatically improved their basic literacy skills. This is a tremendous achievement. I want to congratulate the teachers and the team at Loganlea State High School on implementing this fantastic program to ensure that the students who fall behind are no longer left behind. In particular, I congratulate the teacher, Sophie Smith, and the principal, Belinda Tregea, who have been so instrumental in making this program come to fruition and work for these wonderful students, to ensure their talents and capabilities are realised for the future.