A start....

Any questions/comments/observations relating to the educational content of the programme can be posted here. Any 'technical' problems to the 'Technical Problems' forum please.

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poppetsam
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2007 8:24 pm

A start....

Post by poppetsam »

Not long before Christmas, our school purchased Phonics International and started to look at ways we could use it in our school. Finally we are on the road to starting our Phonics International journey and we are very excited! I am the Year 2 teacher and have slowly started to use different parts of the programme to aid my teaching and to become familiar with the different materials available.

Last week, my TA sat out of class and made up all the materials from the programme into hard copy folders and started to make up the booklets, games and picture cards for my class and for the Year 1 class. Last week I also ran my first of five teacher/TA workshop to prepare staff to use some of the materials and to understand how Synthetic Phonics is different to what we currently teach.

All staff are very excited and I hope that this post will be one of many as we hope to post our successes with the programme on here.
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debbie
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Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:28 pm
Location: UK

Post by debbie »

Dear poppetsam,

Thank you so much for posting on the message board.

I am about to post a thread regarding storage and how different people might consider organising and administering the programme in practical terms.

Clearly this will depend on the setting. Whole school use, for example, is a very different scenario from a parent using the programme for a child or a couple of children.

We shall all be very interested indeed to hear about your progress. You are one of our pioneers on the message board and from my perspective it is very exciting to begin to get the threads rolling.

I have promised another teacher a thread all about slow-to-start children and how best to get them learning more effectively. This will be forthcoming very shortly.

Meanwhile, all the very best in your school and we look forward to any descriptions you can afford the time to post for us - although I appreciate how very busy you will be and have no expectations of when you will find the time to revisit the message board!

By the way - please don't be afraid to post comments which might not seem so 'positive'. All feedback will be appreciated. You know that I believe in clarity and transparency and that this is a new programme and feedback is essential.

Very shortly, also, there will be some new material added to the existing programme - some alternative spelling Sounds Book sheets for unit 6 - and a whole new strand for unit 7 including illustrations to support the 'word associations' aspect of spelling alternatives.

All of these additions will be for the existing price. The website will simply be updated with the new material and I will notifiy people when it has been uploaded.

Best wishes,

Debbie :wink: :lol:
Debbie Hepplewhite
poppetsam
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2007 8:24 pm

Post by poppetsam »

Just a quick message - had to share! We started our Spring half term reading assessments today and it was such a different experience to when we initially tested in Autumn! All children looked straight at text and not at pictures clues, no eyes wandering the page desperately searching for some answer as to what words might be...but all kids really having a go at new words by blending through the whole word and using rules taught to figure out the sounds. And so far...(and we are only a quarter of the way through the class list) kids have made good progress! Both my TA and I are really looking forward to getting our teeth into the programme so that we can reassess at the end of Spring Term and see even further progress. :) :)
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debbie
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Post by debbie »

Fantastic!

Synthetic phonics teaching leads to such tangible progress and enjoyment for both 'teacher' and 'learner'.

It is truly rewarding. I am grinning because I am sharing your new-found excitement with you having been there myself.

I still feel thrilled at pupil-progress.

And I still feel inspired to keep on thinking and improving upon teaching techniques and resources.

That is why it is so wonderful having an 'online' programme, it can change where necessary with our ongoing experience! :wink:
Debbie Hepplewhite
poppetsam
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2007 8:24 pm

Post by poppetsam »

Very brief message. Current reading assessments finished. Every child has moved up further than predicted progress! And...today young boy in my class who was not writing in sentences in Autumn term or writing words that were decodable (just lots of 'BHRRRZCFFLLPPRES' letters on page) wrote today. "Farbr Dmt shob us the simdos." (Father Dermott showed us the symbols) This was independently. I was over the moon. x Keep pushing on!
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