Foundation for Learning and Literacy
April 2026 Newsletter

Welcome to our April e-newsletter as schools start term 2. Please share widely amongst your networks and suggest they may like to become a Friend.

Thank you to those Friends of the Foundation who were able to respond to our appeal for donations towards the design and build of a new website. We are thrilled to announce we have raised enough money to fund this special project. Where we know a donor’s email, we will send a receipt. To make it easier for anyone to donate, we now have a Make a Donation button on our home page. Keep an eye on our website over coming months as we transition to our new site. In the meantime, we have made some temporary improvements until our new site is ready.

Our focus for this e-newsletter is Touchstone 8:
The main purpose for literacy assessment is to inform responsive teaching and provide learners, their teachers, parents/caregivers and school systems with information that informs all stakeholders of progress and achievements. Authentic assessment that impacts positively on learning is an ongoing process, occurring before, during and after learning and teaching every day. It involves many different strategies to enable the learner to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. The most effective assessment strategies are negotiated with learners to ensure expectations are clear, are linked to instruction and provide insights for the learner and the teacher about what learning is next. Snapshot national assessments and annual standardised tests should not be overemphasised. In-class and diagnostic assessments also provide valuable and timely information about learner progress.

Resources and articles related to Assessment:
For school and system leaders


For teachers, pre-service teachers and middle leaders- the following articles and assessment protocols support effective gathering information on student learning:

  • Mackenzie Noella M  Finding out what children ‘know and can do’ with DTWS.  Draw, Talk, Write and Share (DTWS) is a pedagogical approach resulting from research created by Noella Mackenzie. In this article, Noella describes how DTWS can also be used as a powerful observation process, allowing educators in preschool and early years classrooms to find out what children ‘know and can do’ (Mackenzie, 2011) in terms of drawing, talking and early writing. Used for this purpose, it becomes a systematic, formative assessment task. Article provided by ALEA and first published in Practical Literacy: The Early and Primary Years, 2022
  • Dr Nell Duke et al, 2020   Listening to Reading – Watching While Writing protocol This is an informal formative assessment tool designed for use during normal daily instruction or after daily instruction when reflecting on pieces of children's writing or recordings of their reading. Christine Topfer and Southern Cross Early Childhood School, ACT have adapted the protocol to meet the specific needs of the teachers and the children at the schools in which they work. Refer link here. 
  • Adoniou, M. Teaching and Assessing Spelling We’ve repeated this article as it is a great spelling resource for all educators.
  •  Oakley, G. Assessing the comprehension of multimodal text (2002)  Grace Oakley describes comprehension strategies and suggestions for student assessment. Article provided by ALEA and first published in Practical Literacy: The Early and Primary Years, 2022.

For parents and caregivers

Past featured articles and resources can be accessed in the newsletter archive.

Yours in literacy,
The Executive and General Committees
Foundation for Learning and Literacy

In 2026 our collaboration will focus on the importance of school libraries and qualified library staff. More to come about this soon. 

We all like a good story.

Partner Activity

  • Reading Australia applications for the 2026 Reading Australia Fellowship are now open. The Fellowship is worth $15,000 and is open to experienced English and literacy teachers and teacher librarians. This is an opportunity to undertake professional development and research that will also benefit the study of Australian literature in schools. Applications will close on Monday 4 May. To learn more and apply, click here!
  • PETAA This link takes you to PETAA’s digital resources. Includes resources for ANZAC Day 
  • Cue Learning This link takes you to the Teachers Toolkit for Literacy Podcasts.
  • ACTA The next ACTA International TESOL conference will be held in Sydney 1-3 October 2026.
  • ASLA is holding a webinar series beginning on May 6 at 7.30pm entitled Igniting Creativity & Passion for Reading ~ ASLA Webinar Series 2026, MAY.
  • Watch the video created by IBBY Australia to celebrate its 60th birthday, Building Bridges for International Understanding.

    Our FFLL Socials and News

    Please join us on our social media platforms below.

      There is a large range of items related to all areas of literacy and learning in our NEWS area. It is added to regularly.

      Included in our recent NEWS is that our partner IBBY has announced Michael Rosen as the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Award recipient.

      Want to get in touch with us with your ideas? Write to
      learningandliteracy2020@gmail.com       

        The members of the Foundation for Learning and Literacy acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional owners of the country that we call Australia.

        We pay our respects to Elders past, present and future.

        Copyright © Foundation for Learning and Literacy. All Rights Reserved