FIFTY little Year 2 students from Siena Primary School will march across to the University of the Sunshine Coast tomorrow morning (Thursday 21 April) to teach USC’s pre-service teachers a lesson.

The children, aged 7-8, will take part in an ongoing program which gives USC’s Education students a chance to test their techniques in boosting reading skills.

USC Lecturer in Education Carol Smithsaid about 40 undergraduate and postgraduate Education students would welcome the youngsters to campus.

“The Siena children come prepared to read to the USC students, whose role is to assess the reading accuracy and fluency levels,” she said.

“This is a great way for our second- and third-year Early, Primary and Secondary Education students to have one-on-one contact with young students and to develop progression or learning plans for them.

“It will be a real learning experience for our students, it takes them beyond the theory.”

Ms Smith said the exercise, which has a firm research basis that is adopted world-wide, provided a win-win for USC, the Siena pupils and their teachers.

“The children find it very exciting because they get to visit the University, and their teachers can see from a different lens how the children are progressing with their reading and oral language,” she said.

— Terry Walsh