Very worthwhile. This methodology will profoundly impact on all children, especially our second language learners. It’s fun and offers a wide variety of resources which user friendly. Looking forward to implementing this programme that ranges over all learning areas. Many thanks to ABSA.

Two days flew by – so much learning took place! Initially, I was able to place this programme in the intermediate phase, but it all came together on day two! Can’t wait to try and implement this in the classrooms. What a privilege to be part of a training session like this.

Very informative. I can see the value of this method of teaching. It is logical and the learners will definitely benefit from this. The interactive whiteboard was a WOW. Wished we had this programme years ago. Thank you for presenting it in such a lively manner and thanks ABSA, Fort Hare University and all other people involved.

I was first introduced to THRASS during my school experience this year at a school in East London. It immediately grabbed my attention and I was extremely keen to attend a course on it! Hence my excitement when we were given this wonderful opportunity! I have thoroughly enjoyed this course and I will definitely be using it with my class next year – I cannot wait! I am truly grateful for all the knowledge that I have gained! Thank you to all involved for this superb experience.

A very interesting and educational course because as teachers, we need to learn every day so as to keep ourselves at the same level with our international counterparts. The facilitator was clear when she explained the concepts. So glad my language (IsiXhosa) is also included in the programme.

Very good. It was educative. Looking forward to implementing it. It will definitely revolutionise learning, as the learner takes ownership of the programme and I take charge as a facilitator.

I think this was mind-opening and it made me think a lot about teaching language. I think that all teachers should have this course. The presentation was systematic and unfolded well. The facilitator was always heard by everyone and she welcomed all questions as they arose. She has a deep understanding of THRASS and this could be seen from her response to questions.

I cannot wait to teach my granchild as well as my learners! Very hands-on. I honestly believe spelling problems are going to be something of the past in a very short time if we apply THRASS. Just love the way of writing too. Going to practise this afternoon before the rugby!

Helpful because it made us understand and know more about teaching the language. It equipped us to know how to use different approaches when teaching in our schools. Now we have good techniques on how to approach the teaching of language.

Intensive! I’m excited to have an opportunity to try THRASS. It makes a lot of sense to identify phonemes and graphemes, but I know it will take lots of work and a change of mindset. I look forward to the challenge, as we achieve only partial success with current methods. Thank you for a dynamic, well-presented course.

This project was great for me as a future teacher of the foundation phase. The presentation was delivered with great intonation at a good level. Thanks dear Laola for giving us this opportunity to develop future leaders with great skills. They’re all lovely and I enjoyed it from day one to day two!

A very brilliant course – mind-changing, eye-opening. I can’t wait to teach my child at home with the hope of developing his reading skills. It is going to help many children. I’m glad it’s going to be available throughout the whole world because every child and even adults need it. It has also come at the right time for me and my partner, as we are doing research on spelling, so it has come as answer to our problem. Many thanks to the founder, Mr. Davies. God bless you at THRASS.

Worthwhile and fruitful. I consumed much information about THRASS and the aim of the programme. One day, I believe that I will implement the knowledge that I have gathered over the past two days effectively in my classroom. I believe this programme will be effective in all kinds of races – poor or rich. The presentation was worthwhile my time, as well as the training, as it will give me a key to participate and teach internationally. Thanks for a wonderful opportunity.

Very good. Very insightful. Enjoyed all the sections and software wonderful. Lovely variety of learner materials. Divine interactive whiteboard. Can’t wait to try it out! Thanks to ABSA.

Very educational and effective. I am an intermediate phase student and at first I thought it was for foundation phase. Listening to it, I gained a lot of information which will be very useful, especially for those learners that are struggling with reading. I hope there was more time where we could learn a stage then be given an opportunity to put theory to practise. Thanks for this opportunity.

Very interesting and practical for teaching. Helped with my understanding of how to teach phonics.

Very exciting and refreshing. This would definitely help our weaker learners to identify and match the phoneme sounds to words. This could make my lessons exciting as I am a kinaesthetic person.

Very educational because I have gained new skills and knowledge as a student, so that I will be able to use THRASS with my learners next year. I learned exciting things to make learning child centred.

Informative. Gave me a new way of looking at how to make my lessons a lot more interesting.

Makes sense! Would definitely use in my classroom. The two days went successfully and smoothly. I understand it all. Thank you for a lovely presentation. I think that all schools should have a look at and implement THRASS training and learning.

Very interesting even though I will be an intermediate phase teacher. The handouts are excellent and very useful and the course well presented. The course was well presented, information was relevant and I really enjoyed the new approach to teaching handwriting, reading and spelling.

Very informative. There were many useful examples provided, that explained the key aspects of the THRASS programme. The programme was delivered enthusiastically and was very effective. The equipment will be very useful. I am looking forward to implementing this programme in my class.

Very interesting and definitely worthwhile. I’m looking forward to implementing this info with my own class next year.

Very interesting and enlightening. I feel more educated about teaching handwriting, reading and spelling to learners.

Very informative and I really enjoyed it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this course and learned so much. It is a brilliant programme which I look forward to implementing in school. The rap is a brilliant way of learning and teaching the chart.

A very informative two days. Course presenter knowledgeable and enthusiastic. I would like to try out THRASS with real children (especially second language learners) to see the strengths and pitfalls first hand. All still seems quite theoretical at this stage. Course was concise, yet thorough and presentation was systematic and well organised. Resources were managed effectively. Many thanks.

Thank you ABSA and to Laola. Today, I’m understanding and the THRASS approach seems clearer. I think this is an excellent approach as to how we can teach children how to master the English language. It was very insightful and I could see myself teaching this in a classroom. I look forward to practising and being more hands on with the programme.

Very interesting and good to be aware of. I hope to practise it and see for myself how it works in my own classroom one day. It’s exciting to see new developments in literacy and hope it can be broadened even further so others can be made aware of this exciting new programme called THRASS. Thank you for the opportunity to learn more and for the resources.

It was very interesting to see such a diverse way to teach spelling as one always tends to underestimate a child’s capabilities. I just feel that one needs a great deal of media and technology to effectively implement this teaching, however, in South Africa, many schools don’t even have paper and pens, so I feel that they won’t get a true experience of this teaching. The course has covered the books and everything was explained thoroughly.

We were presented with a lovely pack of resources from the outset, which I am sure is going to be very useful. I am glad to have gained greater insight into the methodology of THRASS. I still have reservations but am glad I will be able to think more on it. I see a great deal of sense in the handwriting aspect but feel time and finance required to invest in the system may be impractical within the South African context.

I think this is a good system, however, with any system there are both positive and negative attributes. I am excited to see how teachers and schools in East London implement this system. Time and practise will tell. I feel that the course was very informative and well presented.

Extremely informative. Examples could be cut down a bit though. I thought the use of media was great and made the course enjoyable. I feel that this two day course is fun and long enough. I now feel confident enough to know how to reach THRASS.

It was helpful to attend this event because we learnt more about how to teach young children words and student teachers more knowledge bout teaching.

A wonderful two days. I was blessed to be in a Grade 1 classroom with a fantastic teacher. I was in the dark – however, now I see the light and am excited by the potential which THRASS has to offer! I was really able to see that children should never be underestimated or limited because of their age. I listened to a little Grade 1, first language Xhosa speaker, read all 500 words in the THRASS programme and I was totally amazed! I enjoyed Laola’s enthusiasm and passion and found it easy to follow her as she clearly knows her stuff. I am excited about being a part of this great programme in the future and using it in my classroom one day.

Interesting and fun. I wish there could be another course for Xhosa too.

Really enjoyable. I feel I learnt a lot from it as there were many things I never knew about phonics that I do now. The course was worthwhile – well prepared and presented. I believe that what I learned over the last two days, I will use at university as well as in the classroom. Thank you for extending my knowledge.

Brilliant. It is excellent for English teaching and learning. The presentations were excellent as well. I learnt a lot in terms of phonics and spelling as spelling is truly a worry for us teachers.

Very interesting. I had always wondered when dealing with children who try to sound out words which can’t really be sounded out e.g. male. I therefore feel that I have truly learned a lot and plan to implement and read further to gain more knowledge.

Very interesting and informative. I had seen THRASS in a school during teaching practical, so it was great that I was able to learn more about it and how it works. The course was very helpful and easy to understand. Aspects of THRASS were explained in simple terms and related to school practices. This put all the information into context. The videos were very interesting, as they gave real examples in the classroom. This course was a great learning experience and I now feel much more knowledgeable about the THRASS programme.

Very professionally presented – cannot be faulted. The methodology of THRASS is now much clearer than from prior readings. I would have liked a time set aside for questions. A lot of information in a relatively short period. A time of personal reflection is now essential.

Made a lot of sense. There were a few questions which I had, but they were cleared up as we went along. I did, however, disagree about the handwriting part of the course.

I enjoyed the course and thought it is a new, fresh way of looking at handwriting, reading and spelling. I do feel I will understand it a lot better when it is implemented in a classroom which I could observe or even teach. I am looking forward to seeing the benefits of THRASS.

This course is very important for both the learners and teachers. It has taught me a different approach to teaching children. I have gained much more knowledge.

Well presented materials. Very useful. I felt that this programme includes the learners and it can be adopted to suit anyone’s circumstances and levels.

Wonderful, exciting. So good to know how handwriting, reading and spelling is taught in the foundation phase and be able to continue with the same system in higher grades. Can’t wait to introduce my learners to this method.

Informative and well presented. THRASS is a logical programme and teaches the above skills in a logical, fun way, which is ideal for learners. The course was also very interactive, which is extremely important in the learning process. (I see – I forget, but I do and I remember!)

I enjoyed the course. I learnt a lot about phonological awareness, which I appreciated because this was not covered in our course properly.

Extremely insightful and I could see how it would work very well in schools. Although the process may be a bit complicated to grasp at first, the concept behind it is very simplified, broken down and logical, so it would make sense to learners – unlike the old, outdated ways of teaching learners to read, write and spell.

Enjoyed the course very much. I learned a lot on phonics. It was a section I was struggling with in teaching language. I have gained a lot of skills on teaching phonics, which is of great benefit to me in order to become an excellent language teacher. Keep it up. You are doing a great job to equip language teachers with your THRASS programme.

I have learnt a lot about language. It is great to view and in the future, be able to practise pedagogy, which is not traditional and outdated.

The THRASS programme was really helpful in terms of developing our knowledge about phonics and how to go about teaching it. Really learnt a lot and would really like to put it into practice.

The whole idea of using and beginning with pictures was very good. Learned a lot about the terminology and importance of phonological awareness.

THRASS is a good idea. It helped me and I hope it will help my learners in my future classes – even the community, as it promotes written language and spelling.

Really good course – very insightful and valuable. Thank you so much for opening my eyes to a lot of problems children and adults, alike, face in language today. The course was very well planned and well presented. It was exciting and I will definitely enjoy implementing what I have learnt.

Very interesting and most of the time, I could easily understand what was taught. I did battle with a few things probably because I have training as an Intermediate Phase teacher and am not familiar with teaching phonics in such detail. I think it is a very useful course, as language is a very important aspect of how children learn.

Meaningful. I need to reinforce my knowledge by practising the position of the letters more. However, the course did clarify many things, such as letters have different sounds. Knowing this has given me the go-ahead to teach children the letter for what it is. I hope it will reach many more people and impact on all people – rich and poor. An educated man is a happy man.

I learnt a lot from the presentation. I find THRASS as the most relevant programme one could implement in any classroom. I like the resources that were used and I will use them in my teaching when I am qualified. I am totally impressed by the THRASS IT programme. Children like to work with computers, so they will also find it interesting.

A great course. Very passionate presentation. Interesting new concept, exciting change for the schools – going to be fun to use it in the classroom. A lot of research done, which is great to see. Was interesting to watch the video clips to see this concept in action.

An incredibly valuable experience. Laola is very knowledgeable and dynamic. The content is interesting and something I look forward to experimenting with next year. I would, however, recommend a little more clarity in connection on how to integrate this wonderful programme into the curriculum for older grades who currently know the basics. Thank you for this coordinator.

A great advanced course with many relevant ideas and concepts, which I, as a teacher, will be able to easily implement now after achieving this training.

Very interesting and valuable. I look forward to implementing it in the classroom. I also feel that this is a better form of learning literacy as opposed to our current system.

What an interesting course. Laola certainly is a dynamic speaker. A lot of for thought for thought. I am very keen to get started with THRASS. The learners are going to be motivated – literacy will improve in the school. Very exciting stuff.

It was very interesting to learn about THRASS. It was a bit difficult in the beginning to absorb, as I had never seen it being used before. It seemed like it would be very difficult for children, but looking at the video clips, they seem to catch on easily. This was a very valuable course and I enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed learning about how we pronounce and separate sounds and how accents affect the sounds you make. I like that the sounds and not the old letter sounds because it makes much more sense and doesn’t limit you. I disagreed with the writing. I think children should be exposed to print and cursive and given a choice. I also think the words should be put in context and not separated from sentences all the time. I think this could add to the THRASS experience.

I really like the THRASS picture chart – giving spelling a point of reference. I think the spelling choices are most valuable.

Very informative and interesting. It has really helped in my understanding the teaching methods for writing and spelling. Perhaps too many concepts developed in too little time. However, I have seen some definite links in the teaching prac and learning that will benefit learners.

Very informative. However, I still don’t feel confident enough to implement this approach to language in my classroom next year, but this will take time and practise. Not keen on the handwriting. Well presented.

I was at a school experience this year and saw THRASS being used, but felt it unclear and pointless because they did the rap, but never did any follow up work. After this course, I understand better, but doing a 2 day course was quite rushed and I felt overwhelmed, but the course makes me excited and worthwhile. I look forward to using THRASS next year.

I have gained new knowledge. I am interested to put this theory into practice in terms of different contexts. I am aware of its values and therefore will take this further into the classroom. It’s important to consult and keep in touch with THRASS for further support.

As I have previously been exposed to certain elements of this course, I found certain sections to be too drawn out i.e. explanations of phonemes etc. The presenter was extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable, but I do feel the teachers and students should have attended separate courses. I just felt this was a little basic for people who have been teaching for many years, but would have been most beneficial for the students. Materials supplied are wonderful.

A well presented course – a lot fitted in over two days! I found it a bit hard to grasp but I know that when practised, it will make sense. I think THRASS will work well as part of the overall school programme, and am positive that the level of literacy in SA will improve by use of the programme. Thank you for the opportunity, a great deal learnt and a lot put into context about teaching language as a whole.

Very informative and I learnt a lot. The materials that we were given were fantastic and I feel that this course has prepared me to attempt using THRASS in my classroom next year. I do not feel I have mastered this yet, but I am definitely ready to start implementing it into my teaching and am very interested to see how children respond to it.

Very well organised and well explained. However, I do not feel it is appropriate for intermediate phase learners and I also feel that foundation phase learners may get confused with the terminology. However, when I have experienced THRASS with the learners in a classroom, my views will probably change.

Excellent and will immediately help my teaching. Phonics meets whole language meets sight reading = Reading. I see how I will be able to integrate this with guided reading.

Interesting and insightful. It was interesting to see a variety of teaching methodologies of reading, writing etc. However, I don’t feel that it is appropriate for the grades I would be teaching – it is more foundation phase orientated – but I think that with my own practice in the classroom, it could be useful when teaching vocabulary/higher spelling words.

Good course, well prepared. I feel that it is more appropriate to foundation phase studies though and I am concerned about rote learning or similarity to the “look-say” method.

I believe this course is applicable, but only to a certain extent for Intermediate Phase teaching and learning. I also find it too advanced, complex for basic/simple things that could be taught in a much easier (understandable) and quicker way – especially for second language learners. However, it did broaden my knowledge and skills awareness.

Some super ideas. I really enjoyed it. Introduction of phonemes and graphemes too long.

The course was fantastic – very educational and quite interesting. I am not sure, though, if I am ready to implement what I’ve learned. Perhaps if it was a weeks’ time, I would be ready. I am sure all the children who have done it so far enjoy it too. I like the way it brings reading, writing and spelling together. I have learned a lot and was still enjoying and expecting to learn more.

I find it to be highly involved and complex, however, it is a revolutionary new approach to teaching language in a foundation phase scenario. As an intermediate phase student, I am battling to see where it fits in barring one or two scenarios where the learner needs help with spelling. I have learnt a great deal, though in terms of aspects related to spelling and dialects.

Very helpful for teaching children – especially for foundation phase teachers. The only thing that makes me worry about it is the need for the money for the resources which you cannot find in the rural areas where I have an interest to teach. I really learned and gained strength from the course.

Very worth learning to me and I have learned a lot as a student teacher. The facilitator is very understandable, clear and passionate about THRASS. However, it would have been much better if it could have taken 3 or 4 days within normal learning hours because we were feeling very tired and exhausted towards the end of each day of the two and the facilitator had to rush to cover up the whole thing in a short space of time. Thanks very much THRASS for your input in improving education standards globally. Keep it going.

I had so much fun in this course because I learnt about new teaching methods when teaching language in primary schools. It would be better if we can have another learning area integrated like Mathematics because the rap that goes with the learning is so much fun and exciting to students.

Thank you. Valuable information. Very well presented.

Very interesting as a teacher-to-be. I had a wonderful time. I have learnt a lot thanks to THRASS. You brought to us something that is a barrier for the learners in schools. Learners at school struggle a lot in spelling, so I think through my experiences that I have gained, I would be able to implement THRASS with my learners. One thing I would love to request is that I would be honoured for me if you do something like this not only to language but to Maths, Natural Science etc. We as students need something that would motivate us in teaching our learners. I enjoyed it.

Very interesting course of linking phonic, spelling and writing. As somehow in my schooling we taught in isolation. Good teaching material - very helpful because the course accommodate learners with different learning ability. There are parts that need longer for one to understand as they may seem difficult and one is unable to follow. This programme needs more extra days to explain any confusion. Overall it was good and can be made relevant to children of South Africa.

A worthwhile and interesting course, yet I haven’t quite grasped how to exactly go about implementing the THRASS programme and how exactly it will work. But I am quite confident and excited to start teaching THRASS next year and I am sure that once I get into a classroom situation, I will be able to apply what I have learnt.

Excellent course. Well presented. Thank you so much!

I found everything useful – and it made sense, especially the phonics – brilliant programme. Will have to get used to the handwriting though. Even though I feel that we need to teach both print and cursive and later on let the children decide on how they want to write. I personally know people over 25 years of age that still write in cursive.

This was a very well organised and presented course. I have learnt a lot about THRASS and am reasonably clear about what it is and how it works. There are a couple of areas that I am unsure of, however, I do know that real understanding will only come with practical use in the classroom. THRASS is a brilliant concept, very unique – however, I do feel that a couple of the sections would not work as well as the old method of teaching that I learnt through.

Very interesting because I could see myself teaching using THRASS in my own classroom one day. At first it was a bit overwhelming, but by the end of the second day it all fell into place and came together. I’m quite nervous to put this into practice, but I’m sure it will eventually come naturally.

Enjoyable and learned a lot. A better system to use than “A – Annie Apple”. I thought that the incorporation of the rap makes the learning fun for the learners. As an intermediate phase student, I would, however have liked to have seen how to incorporate it into higher grades. Laola presented it with enthusiasm.

Fantastic. I learnt a lot about THRASS and am willing to use all the information I have got here. The presentation was very clear and instructions were clear, but I think this course needs more times – two days is not enough for this amount of work – but I gained something.

It was fun and is relevant to the curriculum 2005 and OBE. The presentation was fun, but on the first day, I was lost because the presentation was for foundation phase, but as time went on, I understood it clearly. I like THRASS because it has games which reinforces learning in a fun way. I learnt a lot from this presentation. I wish I could attend it again to reinforce what I already know. Now my teaching skills will be growing. Thanks for giving us this opportunity.

The facilitator was good. I do not understand when it is said that THRASS is for every age group. Is THRASS for children who are taught in only English or as a medium of instruction? This question is because the videos we have seen did not specify the medium of instruction in schools. I wonder if THRASS is being used in a school whose medium of instruction is not English.

The course was very enlightening, giving me some new ideas on teaching handwriting, reading and spelling. I have some mixed feelings about implementing some of the strategies but I feel that once my knowledge has been put into practice this may change.

Beneficial. THRASS definitely has good aspects which I believe would be highly beneficial to our learners. There are, however, some points which I don’t feel would be beneficial. I want to practise this in the classroom and maybe I will change my mind regarding these points.

Very enjoyable and informative. Wonderful, creative means to make repetitive learning exciting. Did at times feel the course was more suited to foundation phase teachers. Learnt a lot and am so keen to try it with my learners.

Certain aspects of THRASS very interesting – of good use. Dubious re: implementation of THRASS vs. existing system specified by Education Department. Large classes, lack of assistants may hamper success of THRASS. Please convey thanks for materials supplied.

I found the course really beneficial. However, it did feel a bit rushed at times. The stages (T1-T10) were explained well and were easy to understand. At times I did struggle to see how the programme could be related to children in the intermediate phase. I feel that more time could have been spent on this. Overall, it was very useful and practical – especially for our second language learners.

Interesting but I feel it was such a short time to have to learn all the ten stages. I feel I won’t be able to implement it successfully because I still have some things that aren’t clear for me. Otherwise, I enjoyed learning new things and believe they will be beneficial in my teaching.

There are certain aspects that I feel are definitely very beneficial for teaching children. Other smaller aspects that I feel is not as important, like the font used for teaching handwriting. I would like to use the THRASS methodology next year, but feel it would be impossible, as I will be teaching at a poor school who is not able to afford the necessary resources.

This course definitely has its good points that will be beneficial to the learners. I feel that it could be used well, but I find it a bit worrying to use something in SA which is not specifically designed for our country. We have many different cultures and languages in our classrooms and certain aspects could turn out to be problematic. I am glad that I had the opportunity to attend this course as I know what it is about and how it works.

This scheme definitely has positive aspects that could be used in our classes but there are a few points which I can’t see being useful to our learners. I think some children might have an accent problem. Thank you for all the enthusiasm.

There is a great deal to be learnt from THRASS. There was not enough time to gain a secure and confident understanding therefore I suggest a longer period of time. There are times that accents seem to be a challenge in THRASS reaching its full potential. Thank you for your time and passion.

Very valuable to me as an upcoming teacher. I love the approach to phonics and spelling and will definitely adapt this approach to my own teaching style. However, I don’t fully agree with the approaches to reading and writing and feel that I will only use small parts of this in my teaching.

I found the methodology very useful. I love the way it makes phonics, spelling and understanding of words clearer and easier. I would love to see this in my mother-tongue, Afrikaans. I don’t agree with the handwriting as a whole, but aspects of it. I learnt a lot and found many things useful. I would love to find out more about THRASS. I would use the base and then apply my style of teaching and the way in which my learners learn.

I enjoyed it, but I believe there was a lot of repetition during the course. But all in all, I have learnt a lot and this experience will surely assist me in the future.

A very good course – more especially if you intend to teach language, but I think instead of having one person present the whole two days, there should be more than one. The course must also include activities so that we don’t get bored. All in all I enjoyed and learned a lot.

I have learned a lot from this course, but while I have seen the pro’s of THRASS, I still feel that there are only certain parts of it that I would use. I feel that the yellow chart is the most important part. I don’t see the point of the blue chart because it’s already on the other chart and I don’t see the point of learning that side of the blue chart off by heart. I think the handwriting is a ‘pretty’ handwriting when in print, but I don’t like the joining of letters. I don’t see the possibility of joining the ‘f’. I think it was very repetitive in terms of the presentation. Could have been shorter.

Opened my eyes to the importance of sound and its correlation with reading and writing. It has opened up new ideas in my approach to phonics teaching and how I can help my learners to improve on their spelling. I enjoyed the IT presentation – it was excellent. Many thanks to ABSA for sponsoring us, and enabling us to be made more aware of new software that can help us in our teaching of literacy in a practical way.

Interesting to dig a little deeper and get a clearer view of THRASS and the English language. I appreciate the effort, insight and creativity of the methodology. Very well presented and a good experience which I will remember for a long time to come. “Grate consept!”

Little previous knowledge of phonics and reading, but it now makes so much sense. Actual implementation will need guidance and practice, but so positive it will assist our learners. Thanks for a dynamic and interesting presentation by an extremely energetic and knowledgeable granny!

Very enlightening and definitely full of value for teaching handwriting, reading and spelling skills. There is much exciting material, which after careful study, will make it a success in our school.

Super and made me very clear about many things. It seems as if it is two weeks this two days

Most informative approach to the teaching of handwriting, reading and spelling skills. Resources are amazing and supports the methodology most comprehensively. The interactive board is visually and kinaesthetically stimulating.

Very impressive material, especially Language Calendar Chart. The course has shown its strengths and its achievements as it makes sense to me. I am looking forward to seeing a Xhosa version of THRASS. Presentation skills were fantastic. I like the fact that the presenter explains all what was asked by the audience in that it was very important that everyone should understand how and where to use THRASS according to everyone’s needs.

Interesting to find out about another methodology to add to our repertoire. I’m not sure, though, that it should be the ‘be all and end all’ of all methods of teaching reading, as reading for meaning and whole language or break through to literacy work with some children.

The two days flew by! I still have lots of questions in my mind about merging and incorporating THRASS into all of our language courses as well as responses to some of the questions asked by school staff. I really hope that THRASS will be fully developed into a Xhosa first language course so that literacy levels in SA will really begin to improve.

Very interesting. Loads of energy and passion from our trainer. I still want to know more about reading and THRASS, and pre-and post tests in order to measure progress.

I do not have the appropriate words to say how good this course has been for me. The level of facilitation was excellent. The information was not only substantial, but most relevant to address the problems facing literacy in South Africa today. How I wish the course could spread to all our schools as well. It is time well spent. My gratitude goes to the designers of this course as well as the presenter herself and the sponsor. This is more than generosity!