25 September 1998

Sue Hubberstey reviews materials for the new-look school day By now you will probably have ordered all the Big Books sets and other texts required for the literacy hour; the next task is to consider what support materials you need.....

Thrass UK provides a whole-school programme, concentrating on the teaching of phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (letters and letter combinations). The range includes class- and desk-size picture and word charts, audio material and work books. A good introduction is the Resource File (Pounds 100), which contains a teacher's manual, audio tape; and photocopiable skills sections for handwriting, reading and spelling, and assessment.

Teachers have their say I We invited literacy co-ordinators and other teaching staff from several primary schools to assess a range of products. There was an enthusiastic response to the Wedge from Hope because of its shape and size and the Talkabout Pictures file from NES Arnold, which was considered good value for money and could be used throughout the school. The one reservation was its lack of positive multiracial images.

Only two products received a strong endorsement. These were the Heron Big Book Truck (one of the schools bought one) and the Thrass UK material, particularly the Resource File. "Excellent. I recommend this to every primary teacher", was one teacher's reaction to it.

THRASS UK Ltd 01829 741413

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