THRASS ACCREDITED CERTIFICATE,
PART 1, HARARE, ZIMBABWE,
FEB 2-3, 2010

This has been a thoroughly worthwhile course and will revolutionise the teaching of phonics in Zimbabwe. Alan and Hilary were dynamic and kept us all enthralled. 

An action-packed fun workshop that kept us busy learning new things, reviewing what we had already covered, and with lots of teaching ideas. The resources are so varied that they can be used in different kinds of schools and with varied economies. I really enjoyed myself and look forward to telling others how to make phonics easier. 

An amazing course which opens flood gates of ideas in the teachers head. The teacher can do all sorts of activities to go with the keywords consonants/vowel lists. 

Very enriching. It will be a good program for the children. It makes learning phonics fun and exciting. 

A real eye opener for lights was really shaded on how to spell, pronounce and shape letters properly. Alan and Hilary have really changed my teaching approaches with THRASS. Great thanks to Mr Gudza and his team for bringing us such wonderful lecturers! 

These two days have been very informative ones for me. I know I can pronounce and teach the speech sounds without difficulty. I feel my English lessons will be more organised now. Even though this was a two day course, I feel as though I have learnt everything that could be learnt in a year. Alan and Hilary you are indeed geniuses! God Bless you and your team. 

Very educational the team used a variety of media which kept me alive, all day! 

Thank you so much for the brilliant vibrant workshop. It was really worthwhile considering the distance we had to travel I am quite excited and keen to start the THRASS programme in our school. I’m sure the Sing-A-Long will be a “bang.” Really enjoyed it right through. 

The 2 day programme was very educational exciting and very relevant to Zimbabwean students. We wish it could be part of Zimbabwe’s Primary Syllabus to help our students learn the right thing. The reading, spelling and handwriting skills are highly developed through the programme. Word building and music i.e. Sing-A-Long made the lessons lively. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed the 2 day course, and can’t wait to get cracking in the classroom. Alan and Hilary presented the course in a most interesting and informative way. It is clear that both are excellent teachers. The content was varied and interesting. Can’t wait for the next one – well worth the money. 

Very interesting and very educational. I really enjoyed it, I wish all the teachers in Zimbabwe receive this training so that all the children benefit. 

Fantastic! An exciting, logical way to teach children to read and spell. I can’t wait to use THRASS. 

Immensely valuable and important. Very informative and ideal for all teachers. 

Worthwhile, wonderful and thrilling. One more workshop will make us brilliant THRASS personalities. The presentations were tremendous, quite outstanding KEEP IT UP WITH THRASS. 

I had an amazing time and learnt so much. It is a very exciting way of teaching and I can’t wait to use THRASS in my class. I know that they will love it (and so will I). It makes so much sense and is so simple for both teachers and children to understand and use. It is AWESOME! 

Brilliant! Presentation – appropriate for participants – interactive repetitive. Lots to think about – a must for more of my staff. Good combination of presenters - both highly committed to education. Look forward to seeing you both in our part of Zimbabwe. 

The course has introduced me to teaching of phonics, spellings and reading in a vibrant way, now I know how to use the cards and the software for the children’s benefit both at home and school. I look forward to attending part 2 of the course! It was wonderful, amazing and an eye opener. 

Introduced me to the THRASS programme in a vibrant, animated and educational way. I have now understood how I can use the THRASS software, and aids to teach my grade five class. Thank you for the clear presentations and I am looking forward to imparting these to my class and children at home. 

A captivating eye opener and educational program towards word skill attack and confidence in expressing oneself. This will give a new beginning in my teaching in both music and languages. 

All grey areas on the THRASS programme have been cleared. The application of all materials was well demonstrated. Looking forward to teaching THRASS effectively. 

Good facilitation of endless energy and knowledge from horse’s mouth. Interesting course. Now we can teach THRASS approach. 

It was an eye opener especially to some of us who teach infants. The programme should be a must to everyone, even those in rural schools, keep up the good work. 

A well-prepared, timed and interesting programme. Facilitators were good and inviting. Keep it up! 

A very helpful and fruitful exercise for all levels of the primary school. Very suitable for pupils with English as a second language. Good for pronunciation and spelling. 

It was time well spent. I was equipped with new skills. My approach to teaching reading and spellings will change. My pupils will definitely benefit from what I have learnt. When I return to school, I shall share what I have learnt with the rest of the staff. Well presented by both Alan and Hilary. 

A very brilliant presenter got us captivated for two days – and the good lady was very efficient too. 

Loved this workshop. The idea is fantastic. Would love to learn more about it. Alan and Hilary did a great job. Can’t wait to teach this. How do I teach this to high school children? Please inform me on future workshops. I am really looking forward to teaching this. 

Well organised, interesting and educational. I benefited a lot. 

Very good and well conducted lessons, keep up the good work facilitators. 

Brilliant! We desperately need a simple phonics programme that can be taught to children for whom English is a first language – and also those that have English as a second language. Children can understand and relate to the THRASS programme. 

Very interesting. I enjoyed the Sing-A-Long with the sounds. I liked the way it was presented and to learn more, I would like to see more vocabulary used for pupils in the higher grades. Job well done. 

A wonderful programme that will help a lot of children in our schools. I would love to learn more! 

A well planned programme. It would be good if the programme stretched over three days with the participants demonstrating what they have learnt before the group. 

Fantastic course, would like to come on more courses, need to think of a way to persuade the Heads to use it in their schools. I will try and let you know how it goes. Need more guidance on what you suggest we do at what age group. I suggest you encourage Heads to come to your courses. Favourite part - it makes so much sense and kids love to sing and dance, so it will work. 

Very brilliant! Quite illustrative and a fresh way to teach children phonics. I am quite encouraged too, by the ability of the program to incorporate other practical subjects. Please keep me updated on the availability of the new Sound-it-out software. 

Interesting and helpful. Daunting to think of changing entire school phonics and spelling/reading structure. Excited that this course may assist weak spellers and those that struggle with reading. 

I loved it! It moved so fast in the beginning with the new/strange terminology. I was a tad worried I’d be left behind. Got the hang of it pretty quickly and zoomed off! Wish we’d had the CD with the book! 

Time well spent. Brilliant course indeed, To the people at THRASS, I say keep up the good work. 

A good presentation, well detailed I have learnt a lot and I pray that the pupils are going to benefit. 

I have never seen anything like it. It does make sense. It will help native Zimbabweans to pronounce their words correctly. Native English speakers do not have a problem. It would be better to have the course spread over a week. 

It was quite beneficial but I feel it is very effective starting from grade 3 to pupils with a background of Letterland. However, the singing/songs in the Sing-A-Long can be introduced at any level even the preparatory school and then the phonics at a later stage when the people can read and write. 

Beneficial and educational. It corrects those ‘silly’ mistakes that we tend to take for granted which in actual fact distort the teaching of reading, writing and handwriting. 

Relevant, informative and effectively presented. I wish all the members of my staff receive the same training for the benefit of the children. 

Very interesting and very educational. Hope the children in our school will benefit, if we are to implement what we have learnt. 

The course was educational and the content is relevant to the teaching of English. The sequence of the programme was so interesting. 

Very productive as we learnt a lot on the teaching of reading and spelling skills not forgetting handwriting. The only problem to some of us who have English as the second language tend not to hear what first language speakers of English say in some words and phrases, there is a need to slow the speed a bit. Thanks very much for the much needed help in the teaching of English. 

A wonderful experience. It was an eye-opener and very enriching. I learnt a lot especially about the alphabet that they are just ‘dancers’ and have not sound unless they use a sound in a word. That was brilliant! Thank you so much Alan and Hilary the two days were well spent. 

I have learnt a tremendous amount and can’t wait to put into practice what I have learnt. It is a lovely innovative way to teach phonics. I would be keen to do follow up courses. 

A very educational and informative workshop, an informative workshop. Reading and spelling are also learnt and taught. A very valuable course. I suggest that more courses should be done termly. 

Very informative educational and enhancing the quality of pronunciation, spelling and reading. It’s actually a language study. Phonics helpful courses. 

The workshop was worth attending it was educating, revived my reading teaching methods. Please spread the knowledge to more centres for the benefit of many children. 

The course was so wonderful, eye opener and educational. This was good to hear it from the horse’s mouth. Keep up the good work. 

Very enlightening, I’ve learnt quite a lot on reading, spelling pronunciation and articulation in English. We need to learn more and look forward to new ideas and the use of technology. 

Brilliant! Keep up the good work. It is so interesting, we hope to implement it in the schools. 

Very useful in the teaching and learning of alphabet letters and the sounds they make. I would love to come back for the second part and learn more. 

A great course, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I’m very excited about the book and the songs – both of which I will definitely use in my class. Strengths of course: engaging and interactive. Ideas for next time: some more examples on how to use THRASS lessons etc. 

Very good – will use songs and book. Will probably use certain aspects will try it anyway. 

“Food for thought” Enjoyed it. Feel more enthusiastic about teaching spelling! 

This is a brilliant way to teach children to read, spell and write. I was particularly impressed with the fact that you involve the child’s many senses it also allows the child to Sing-A-Long to the songs on the consonants and vowel sounds. Thanks very much Alan and Hilary for a perfect presentation. This will change Zimbabweans ability to articulate the Queen’s language. 

A real eye opener into an easy way of teaching children reading and spelling words. Exciting and educational, it also helped me as a teacher to pronounce some vowels correctly and will now be able to help children articulate words correctly. The Sing-A-Long was fantastic, it will motivate children like reading and spelling words. I also like ‘KAN’ (Keywords, Articulation, Names) will definitely use it! 

An eye opener to the teaching of THRASS. I now have the knowledge to use in teaching handwriting spelling and reading. I can now use the software. Thank you and look forward to more training. 

The presentation was well arranged that I felt pity for those who didn’t manage to come. I highly appreciate the efficiency. The training real abreast me more higher with technology. 

The workshop was an eye opener I really enjoyed the workshop Alan and Hilary keep up the good work. 

An excellent way of teaching. It’s an eye opener. I really enjoyed the workshop. Alan and Hilary are the best teachers of THRASS in the whole world. Keep up the good work. May the Lord richly bless you. 

These two days have brought more understanding in a great way to teach English. There are many words that I did not understand why they said, pronounced that way, now I have an idea. 

It’s going to be great to teach children reading, spelling and writing the THRASS way - in a play way. Children will love the use of the library resources to develop their reading culture. We are the winners! 

It was an eye opener I can now confidently teach the children THRASS in a sequence and with the use of all the teaching aids given as a example. Very much liked the idea of the Spelling Log and the word tiles forming different words. Thank you a million times. 

Educational and exciting. A child learns the sounds and alphabet in a funny way through music and dancing. They also learn a lot of sounds over time and it improves articulation and spelling what I am worried about is that it contradicts with the Letterland where children learn a lot of words in one sound. 

Very fruitful and exciting. It was quite enlightening especially in the area of graphemes and phonemes. I liked the participatory methods which the presenters used, as all participants took part. The presenters knew their material well and were very lively and confident during their presentations. I anticipate that this program will also reach the poor schools where resources and trained teachers are lacking. Music made the presentations all the more exciting. 

This has been the third THRASS course I have had the pleasure of attending. I must say, with each one I have learnt a lot and sharpened my enthusiasm in THRASS. I have unfortunately or fortunately changed schools with each course I have attended. Fortunately in that I can proudly say I have had an input into THRASS at each school. The course at Eaglesvale was really brilliant. I enjoyed every moment at it. And by the way I haven’t been prouder to be Zimbabwean. 

This course was just wonderful and an eye opener to the teaching of reading. It will help me develop the language in our community. Thank you very much, may the good Lord bless you.

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