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The Story of the Fitzroy Readers
The Story of the Fitzroy Readers
The Fitzroy Readers were created by Faye Berryman and Philip O’Carroll for use in the classrooms of Fitzroy Community School, founded by the pair in 1976 in Melbourne’s inner north. Faye, formerly a secondary English teacher and social worker, and Philip, previously a university lecturer in logic and linguistics, designed the program to promote reading confidence and mastery of English using a phonic approach. Philip and Faye have published a book about their experience of starting and running Fitzroy Community School.
It is over forty years now since the first Fitzroy Reader was written. In addition to the readers, currently in their thirteenth edition, the Fitzroy Program now comprises fully integrated workbooks, software, audio materials, educational games and the Fitzroy Maths series.
The Fitzroy Readers and support materials have gained a reputation for sound learning principles, logical structure and impressive results, and are used in thousands of schools and other educational settings in Australia and around the world.
Where to Start - English
Where to Start - English
Fitzroy Readers and Word Skills workbooks ?
Fitzroy Readers and Word Skills workbooks ?
The Fitzroy Program is a complete P-6 phonic literacy resource. Nine sets of ten readers form the core of the program. The accompanying Word Skills workbooks provide activities that focus on each new sound and/or digraph introduced in the readers, as well as spelling, grammar, comprehension and creative English exercises.
Given the sequential nature of the program, it is ideal to start at the beginning. However, students can enter the Fitzroy Program at any stage of literacy development. When in doubt, it is generally recommended that the student commence at an earlier level, to increase their confidence and fill in any gaps in their knowledge.
The following table indicates where the Fitzroy Readers and Word Skills workbooks fit in the first seven years of schooling:
Entry Level Tests can be used to help gauge where to start a student in the Fitzroy Program.
The Master List shows which digraphs are introduced at each level of the Fitzroy Program and may help in choosing the right entry point for the learner.
The Comparison of Levels chart shows how the Fitzroy Readers sit alongside Reading Recovery and the PM Readers.
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