Enlightening, enriching, powerful, eye-opening. Brilliant presentations. A great approach to literacy development.

Thorough presentation. Well-organised. Clear ideas, steps, and comprehensive explanation and description of programme. Very well presented. Great, and motivational.

Round of applause! I can’t wait to begin! The energy, enthusiasm and passion of the presenters is contagious and I really am convinced that this will make a difference in my students’ lives. This has been time very well spent.

Very valuable two days’ both on a professional and personal level. A lot of information in a short time. Implementation will be both interesting and exciting!

The program has merits to use with our struggling readers. I see how the program will be of benefit to my students!

A very excellent presentation. I like your energy and skill. Both of you did an excellent job of keeping us up and on the ball. The information passed on to us was relevant and very useful. I learnt a lot in a short space of time. I plan to use the information and experiences. Very fruitful presentation.

Vibrant, energetic presentation. Good, multi-sensory approach to learning about phonemes and graphemes (how language works). Needed more time to explore programme and see links to reading and writing.

Excellent. Love the new Phoneme Machine.

I’m looking forward to using THRASS with my ESL students. I think it will be very beneficial for second language students to learn the phonemes and graphemes of English.

I believe the presentation was very informative. I think it is brilliant to use with children with Reading Difficulties.

Very informative. Provided new methods to teaching reading and spelling. Attractive materials for children.

Very informative. Well presented. Spelling correction idea is great. The resources, particularly the charts, are impressive. I am concerned, however, about how I will introduce it to my older students.

Very informative with some concerns. Want to see strategies of teaching reading on a learning continuum from Primary through to last stage of Secondary (or perhaps Adult education). Very interested in multi-sensory, audio-media resources in teaching; THRASS seems on target.

Very interesting. Once implemented in the primary schools we will be well prepared to carry on.

A structured programme that is workable.

Very interesting. As a high school teacher of English I have always wondered how I learned to read because of or in spite of the phonics system. I was felt it was the latter and this confirms it. I had considered retraining as a reading teacher but I think this has confirmed that I prefer to instil a love of reading books and literature, but I take my hat off to those with the patience and expertise to teach the basics and the mechanics!

Quite informative. There are a lot of positives and many new things with regards to previous teaching. I have certainly learn a lot and will be utilizing as many of the program as possible if my school doesn’t buy into it.

Fast paced. A fresh accurate look at teaching children. Fun learning environment. All my questions were asked and answered clearly. This has been a thinking conference: make the connections, be creative, review, and celebrate!

This course was a refresher since I have considerable experience and qualifications as an EFL teacher. I’m concerned though about the robotic, mechanical delivery of sounds and spelling. We do not think in a linear fashion. Therefore students will have problems remembering the patterns. [I am disappointed, given your expertise, that you have left this ‘ten-stage’ course with this view - about how THRASS teaches the 44 phonemes and 120 keygraphemes of English. However, I do stand by the view that learners should be taught, during Stage 7 Keyword Synthesis, to blend all the sounds through a word, from left to right, to read it – and in a ‘linear fashion’. Otherwise, even the simple word ‘cat’ could end up being read or spelled as ‘tac’ or ‘act’. Alan]

The sessions were interesting and will be very helpful with my very weak students who are still not able to recognise letter sounds. It is also helpful as I am better able to explain the blending of sounds to students.

Some, if not many, converts have been won. I think that the programme and presenters have their bases well covered. Practitioners such as myself welcome the programme because it provides a sound structure through which one can develop phonic abilities in students. I also applaud its multi-sensory nature and the way it addresses key areas of phonics instruction. A lot of brain power went into the programme.

I guess the course was what was expected. There were no surprises.

There was a great amount of new information being presented in a relatively short period of time. The classification of graphemes and phonemes was quite interesting. I have no double that this program will be successful, however, I have concerns about the transition from old learning to new.

Interesting ideas. Lots of information to absorb. Lots of visual, interactive presentations. Looking forward to seeing classroom demonstrations, videos and using the Phoneme Machine.

The programme is very interesting and interactive. There is no doubt that it will foster students’ active participation and learning.

Very valuable and informative. The presenters were very knowledgeable and displayed a sense of preparedness. Much was put into this programme. I am empowered and will be implementing much of what I have learned from this workshop. It was great.

Congrats on having thought about and designed such a programme. It definitely has merit. I have not yet absorbed everything and still have some questions. However I believe that the programme will benefit learners and am looking forward to seeing it in operation. Thanks for sharing.

I have only been in attendance for one day. Despite this fact I have found this experience very interesting and unique. The presenters are quite flexible and fluent in presenting their commodity. I have really enjoyed the experience and have learnt a great deal.

A radical way of promoting the different strands of literacy. There are really some areas that I am fascinated with. 1. New look at the alphabet. 2. The handwriting component. 3. THRASS keywords. Overall, I think it is a programme that can work in the promotion of literacy development. The presenters were absolutely fantastic.

Certainly new and different approach to Phonic Teaching. Will be worth the effort to implement in the classroom. The materials are well co-ordinated and very well thought-out. Good presentation of material and the questions and concerns adequately handled. Thank you, Alan, Hilary and George Hicks High School.

Excellent whole school – whole language approach to reading and improving literacy levels in our schools.