THRASS TWO-DAY CERTIFICATE,
NORTH YORKSHIRE, NOV 1-2, 2007

A very interesting and comprehensive course. A lot to digest but put across in a very vibrant, humorous way. Thoroughly enjoyed both days and felt very inspired.

Brilliant! Have been using THRASS for years – these two days have confirmed my work and given me more confidence to challenge the literacy consultants and confirm my understanding of phonics, phonological awareness and how to support children, teachers and parents.

Brilliant! While I knew quite a bit about the delivery of THRASS I now feel more secure about progression and assessment. Also, I feel more confident to talk with colleagues and parents about why THRASS is an excellent programme.

Excellent course lead with passion, enthusiasm and humour. Good teaching skills. Lots of overlearning and reinforcement.

Really good. The two days have been packed with information and have been inspiring and motivating. I can’t wait to use it and will certainly be telling schools how fantastic THRASS is!

Very informative and enjoyable. What a great way to teach children. It explains a great deal about how to spell words, read words etc. Can’t wait to have a go.

A fascinating and most informative two days. Time went so quickly.

A fabulous course! I can’t wait to get back into school. It just makes sense! Really clearly explained, although I feel like another day would have helped – maybe having a go at actually ‘teaching’ each other. I’m really looking forward to the SING-A-LONG CD.

Fantastic approach incorporating all aspects of spelling, reading and phonics based around children’s interest in reading pictures and words. There was a lot to take in but I can’t wait to have a go.

Excellent course. Very uplifting and energising. Super material and back up information to take away. I am looking forward to using the Phoneme Machine softrware.

Information packed. Empowering. Directly and immediately applicable.

Fab. Having been involved in various phonics interventions over the years it has now become clear why some children have found literacy so difficult. I found the course challenging but have enjoyed it very much. I look forward to being involved in implementing the program in our school.

Brilliant subject knowledge. Very enthusiastic delivery. Can’t wait to get started.

Inspirational. Has made me revise whole system of teaching phonics. Enthusiastic course leader. Great energy, lots of fun and very knowledgeable.

Excellent but exhausting! We will be introducing THRASS as our phonic scheme from January.

Excellent presentation and excellent materials. Alan is passionate about THRASS and I am looking forward to using it.

Valuable information for teaching children.

Useful. Will be interesting to see how it works in Y5.

Useful information but would have liked time to use the ICT program on the interactive whiteboard.

Useful but now need time to think about and digest all the information. As a KS2 teacher I have found my phonic awareness a bit bewildering but I’m getting there! Going over the vowel and consonant sounds was very useful.

Fab two days. Very informative, fun and quite inspirational. Looking forward to giving it a go.

Excellent course. Quite inspiring.

Thoroughly enjoyable. Inspirational, very informative. Keen to implement in whole school as soon as possible. Changed the way I thought about teaching spelling. Excellent.

I really like the materials and the principles behind them and will use them However, the course would have been better for one and a half days – too much to take in!

Great materials – especially liked the raps! Agree strongly with idea behind THRASS. A bit too political at times. A lot to take in – information overload by the end.

Good course. Very interesting.

Good course, well presented.

Overall a very useful course.

Overall an inspirational course. Makes very good logical sense! Made me think about the teaching of phonics. Presented in a fun and interactive way. A lot of information at once.

A very interesting course, which I hope to start using very soon.

An interesting and informative couple of days. I still feel that I have much to learn.

Two days well spent! Very informative and presented in a clear and enthusiastic manner.

Thoroughly enjoyable and informative. A lot of sense spoken.

Fantastic course!

Very enjoyable course and thought provoking. I have learnt a lot (which is unusual for a course!). All we need to do now is work out where to go next – maybe whole school training.

Very enjoyable, well-presented course which we will apply with our Year 5/6 students. A lot of content but good resources to take away.

A brilliant course, very inspiring. I wish my teenage dyslexic child had been introduced to this at 3!

Very intensive and the THRASS programme makes a lot of sense. I am a P.G.C.E. student and am very concerned about the lack of phonic teaching on our course – use of words and sounds etc. only included in the course at college. I am going to raise this with our literacy tutors. I think the blue grapheme chart is the most useful resource for KS2 where I am based.

Lots of resources shown/talked about. Too long spent on the songs! Confusing at times – still unsure about how to apply the chart in guided reading/writing sessions. Alan fun and enthusiastic.

Thank you – extremely helpful two days – great to hear the message that it involves reading/’real’ language too! Looking forward to spreading the words in Catterick and Wensleydale!

Very good course. A lot crammed into two days and a lot to take in when totally new to THRASS. Very easy to understand after explanation and am going to have fun trying to work out how to put this across to our Year 1 class. Looking forward to getting our hands on the new music!

Fantastic two days – wish it were over longer time though. A lot to take in.

Interesting, fast moving course. At times a little hard to follow. Some great resources both shown and demonstrated. A lot of information to take in. Still not sure how I would attack in classroom. More reading needed!

Extremely valuable and I feel a lot clearer and more confident about teaching phonics, particularly with the younger children. I have thoroughly enjoyed the course and loved the new songs! Think the children will love them too! I look forward to teaching THRASS in school.

Polish language chart would be helpful: please let me know when it comes out. Also the SING-A-LONG CD – I can’t wait to sing them! A really enjoyable two days that has extended my knowledge and confidence with phonics. I look forward to moving our children forward with THRASS.

I have enjoyed the course very much. It has extended my knowledge about phonics and given us a clear programme for teaching. I have really enjoyed the fact that all our school staff were able to take part. Looking forward to getting started and those songs!

Very good! Made a lot of sense. Looking forward to getting back to the classroom and using the chart more. A lot to take in which I’m sure will become clearer when I begin to experiment more.

Very informative. Excellent way to teach phonics and spelling. I am looking forward to implementing the THRASS ideas into my classroom.

Enjoyed this course very much. I have found it challenging at times but can see that it will be very helpful for the children at our school and I am looking forward to implementing it with the children.

A very constructive course both informative for teaching the children and my own personal knowledge. Really enthused to share with children all aspects of the course.

I am a lot clearer about my own subject knowledge of phonics and understand how THRASS can help children with their spelling and reading. I now need to think carefully about how to implement this within my own classroom to meet the needs of the children.

Very informative. Made my understanding a lot clearer. Enjoyed the SING-A-LONG resources.

Very interesting. Lots of information to take in. I think it will be great to use with the children.

Great. Some exciting ideas for the future – looking forward to getting on with THRASSing.

Very thorough. A complete new approach to phonics. Having worked with children with both SEN and EAL, this approach makes much more sense. Just need now to work through the stages. Lots of information. Most useful.

Thank you for a very useful and clearly presented course. Good pace, relevant information.

Very interesting. Moved very fast and as someone who knew nothing about THRASS I would have really struggled if I had not sat next to someone who had been using THRASS for a while. I needed a more systematic approach and more on introducing to older children.

Excellent – you have explained it very well in the short time – now looking forward to putting it into practice.

A fantastic two days. I have been committed to THRASS since I was first introduced to it, but this has enthused me even further.

Very enjoyable. A lot to think about. Some good ideas and I’m looking forward to giving it a go.

The two-day course was extremely informative, helpful, well presented, VAK aware and very enjoyable. It was great to have so many references to the resources and to be guided through the Profilecard. I first came across THRASS when I was asked and currently deliver taster programmes to groups of pupils with “training” (in terms of introducing and giving a taste) to TA’s. Also encouraging our schools to take on board fully. The spread of THRASS abroad was really interesting and I should love to volunteer to assist with this if there is an opportunity!

I have enjoyed participating in the training and it has been very thought provoking. It does seem to be a very “common sense” approach. I would have liked more time to have been spent on its use in KS2. I feel that there has been quite a lot of time spent on repetition, particularly the first session of Day 2. I am looking forward to implementing the scheme fully in our school.

An excellent second day. Continues to inspire. Really agree with the philosophy behind it. Look forward to all the work which will follow this case!

Very good, a fun way to learn! A new approach that will reach all children. Would like to have spent more time on the later stages and knowing where to start when using it with older children.

Very informative. Useful resources. Very interactive training. Would have liked longer on the later stages of THRASS. Looking forward to using the THRASS approach on my own children at home and children in schools.

Very useful two days. Great to hear reading/sharing books celebrated and encouraged. Wonderful to have letter names as such an important element. Can see how all children can access. Will use both in work and with my own child.

Enjoyed the course. So much to take in.

Truly inspirational and convinced that using THRASS skills will really bring on the children with whom I work, who tend to struggle with literacy and spelling in particular.

Excellent presentation and demonstrations.

A fun way to teach children phonics. A lot to digest in two days, but put across in a humorous way. I’m really looking forward to starting THRASS in our school.

Fast, furious, lively, interactive, and informative. Can’t wait to use it once I’m qualified as a teacher!

Fun. Looking forward to using it. It will be great that we have all done this course at school. So will all be approaching it in the same way. Good, fun speaking from Alan. Can’t wait for the songs. My Nursery children will love them. They love using the THRASS mats as play dough mats already!

Very inspiring course, that has challenged my own phonics knowledge. Having worked in the class with THRASS for 6 weeks, it has given me lots of ideas to extend and support Y5 in their language. Can’t wait for a THRASS fancy dress day! Would love to come and look at Oxley Park School.

Very informative. Very empowering. Lots to think about and take in but far more confident in my teaching knowledge/understanding of phonics.

Wonderful to listen to someone with a solid philosophy for what they are doing. Lots of super ideas and resources presented in a clear way.

A fantastic and fun phonics course that my class are really enjoying (Y3/4). I have greatly enjoyed my two days training and have so much to share with the whole school.

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