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1.
Tutor
Evaluations: March 2005
2. Student/Tutor Evaluations: June 2005
3. Unpublished Letter to British Newspaper
4. Brain Gym Expert Gives Support
1. Tutor Evaluations: March 2005
from 15-16 March in KwaZulu-Natal
What a wonderfully, inspiring two days you have given us! This
programme is so very carefully structured to address what we,
as teachers and teacher trainers, have in the past neglected
to reveal to our children and students. This is an essential
course for all teachers - I support your mission and hope I
can contribute in some small way. South African education
desperately needs this programme and the support for
implementing it successfully. Thank you Alan, Hilary and Laola
- I have "air under my wings"! To the teachers from
Fulton, your contribution was inspirational.
A 'mind-melting', worthwhile, valuable course that every
teacher needs to consider in the teaching of English. I love
that it dispels all the 'lies' we have long been putting in
place. I also love that you have the open-ended 'catch-all'
option that allows this programme to grow with the future and
move with new developments. Your passion and conviction were
inspiring. Thank you! What a dream!
2. Student/Tutor
Evaluations:
from 2-3 June in
Johannesburg
Portable
Document Format
Interesting
course, extremely valuable for teachers and future teachers.
What an honour and a privilege to be included in this ‘world
of words’. So tightly thought through, every thread and
loophole catered for – challenging me and my practise at
every turn. This teacher is in CRISIS!! How to change my
methodology? How to convince my staff to change their mindsets
and risk a little? How to get my children to this as quickly
as possible? THANK-YOU ALAN!
IT WAS BRILLIANT! SOUTH AFRICA NEEDED THIS! THANK YOU!
Informative, eye opening, exciting, excellently presented
given the stipulated amount of time that was allowed,
captivating.
This course was interesting and showed me a NEW IMPROVED way
of teaching phonics! It proves to be valuable to the learners
as shown with the demonstration. I am excited to implement
this in the classroom. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the
course! Thank you for everything.
The course is FANTASTIC! Phonics is such a mystery and it now
seems so much easier and simpler with THRASS. It seems like
fun and isn’t wrapped in fairy tales. Alan is dynamic,
interesting and held my attention. Thank you for all the
materials!
Very good. This course brought new insight to phonics
teaching. I think this will make it easier for children to
learn how to read and write. Thank you very much. I wish I was
taught this when I was younger. It would have made life
easier.
Excellent presentation. Passion comes through very clearly.
Explanations very thorough. Knows the product and conveys it
with extreme confidence. Excellent workshop for all student
teachers and teachers of little children. I especially like
the different modes of presentation available to all children
and catering for the different learning styles of children.
Thank you. It’s been an absolute privilege attending your
workshop.
THRASS was very enlightening! Particularly liked that the
course programme helps second language students, as this is an
important aspect in South African schools.
This has been an absolutely amazing opportunity and course.
Some of the most striking features being that through this
course children’s intelligence is not undermined, the notion
that one letter represents one sound is eliminated and that
the THRASS map caters for diverse dialects as well as accents.
The latter being phenomenal for a country that is rich in
diversity! It is a real challenge and Alan thank you for
travelling all this way to enrich not only our students but us
as an institution.
I think it was very beneficial and I am definitely going to
pass on this amazing concept to my learners. Thank you so
much. Really enjoyed it! You’re a great speaker and are very
positive and enthusiastic!
THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU. I have found this course so
beneficial. I have learnt SO MUCH! It makes so much sense to
know about 44 sounds in the English Language. You have spoilt
us with resources and I promise I will use it. Now that I know
about THRASS, it is impossible to ignore it! Great
presentation Alan.
Fantastic. Went against almost everything I believed. But
I’m sold. I’ll never go back. Hope the South African
government jumps on the bus soon. Perhaps set up a South
African/African branch? We need it.
Extremely informative. Interesting and enthusiastic
presentation. THRASS has been proven to work and its amazing
to see it in ‘action’, it’s the only programme that
actually makes sense! Hope that all schools in the near future
will implement this programme as it will only benefit future
readers, writers and educators of the English language. Alan
has again proven that it can only benefit children if we teach
them correctly from the start. Brilliant.
Brilliant! We should have done this from the beginning.
I am very pleased to have attended this course. I have seen it
implemented in schools in Johannesburg. I have heard about how
wonderful THRASS is and after attending this course I believe
that this will help eliminate the literacy problems we are
currently faced with in South Africa. Although I did find it
difficult to keep focused for such lengthy periods. I have
learnt an enormous amount and was kept on my toes by the
brilliant presenter. Thanks Alan!
You have just given me a powerful instrument that has
transcended my inconfidence to great confidence. Thank you. I
feel very privileged to do the course. Good luck with all your
endeavours.
A meaningful and worthwhile course. I thoroughly enjoyed
myself and have learnt so much. I know and am confident now
that I can go into a classroom next year, knowing how to teach
a child to read, spell and write correctly.
The course was well presented. There was a lot of resources
that was competent to the course. We gained insight on how to
develop teaching methods and aids on phonema. We enjoyed the
course and would like to continue corresponding with THRASS to
get further resources.
I think that THRASS is awesome. I really felt it to be
worthwhile and useful to use in a classroom. It helped answer
many “problems” that I have observed in schools.
Alan is a great lecturer, making the course fun and
interesting. LOVED IT! THANK YOU!
Very interesting, a lot to grasp within 2 days but it was
worthwhile. One will need a sample of different lessons that
one can implement in the classroom. (To serve as a guide).
Thank you. I enjoyed it!
The course was great. A very different approach to phonics,
one I wasn’t aware of, or thought possible until now. I do
think it’s positive and very beneficial for both children
and teachers. Thank you for all the resources they clarified
concepts. I think it is very possible to teach this to
children and I am confident to do so and perhaps next year I
will be implementing this programme. Thank you very much.
I love this program, and feel that as a child I was deprived -
after experiencing this course!
This course is concrete and a reality. I believe that aid of
learning disabilities will be cured through this program.
Once graduated, I hope to go into a school that uses this
programe. Thank you for your time and generosity. Your program
is interactive, innovative and very exciting.
Absolutely fantastic!!
Thank you for your time. It was wonderful to learn these new
aspects. I hope that I will be able to use this in a classroom
of my own. Thank you.
I found the course very interesting and useful. I think it can
benefit both teachers and children. It is an excellent way of
teaching and learning, in a fun and different way! I think it
was extremely well presented. It was very enjoyable. Thank
you!
I really enjoyed the course. The activity outcomes were loud
and clear. New implementation has been established in me. I am
going to teach this during my next school experience!! Thank
you THRASS!
Excellent. I really enjoyed it and I would love to use it in
my classroom.
Thank you so much. I really learnt a lot. I found that it was
a really different approach towards phonics. I do think this
is a brilliant programme and is very essential for all
teachers to learn, so we can teach more children about THRASS.
Great approach in dealing with phonics, reading and
handwriting and spelling. Have taken valuable hints and
ways/approaches of teaching.
New. Exciting. Fun.
Very informative and relevant to all situation teachers face.
Focuses on strengths and weaknesses. Stimulating and thought
provocative information.
I really found this course fascinating! It was well presented
and I’m really excited about it. Thank you!
A wonderful course. I hope to be using it soon in my own
classroom. Alan is a great public speaker, and made the course
interesting.
I enjoyed the course. I actually want to go out and use it in
the schools and see if it works. I’ll definitely use it on
Prac. I like the fact that there is a “dictionary” of
sound included. I myself battle with spelling and it has open
up my eyes to things and can try and improve. Thank you for a
wonderful two days!
I found the course very interesting and would have liked it to
be over a longer period of time. Thank you so much!
This course was really enlightening. I will definitely use
THRASS as a means of teaching. It was a truly valuable course.
Great to learn something new.
It was very informative. It has helped me to look at a new way
of teaching phonics.
The course was very informative and enjoyable. I am an
intermediate phase teacher trainer, I will definitely use it
with my children. If there are learners in my class who are
having difficulties in reading and writing, I will use this
method as I think it’s very effective. This course depicts
an enjoyable way in which phonics, reading and writing should
be taught. As an intermediate phase teacher, I will make use
of the word chart and will be displayed in my classroom one
day. Thank you!
Informative, although I am a senior Intermediate Phase
Specialist, it’s outcomes have been achieved. It can be used
for the older learners and this in turn makes learning a lot
more understandable. Thank you Alan Davies.
I think that this course was very stimulating and enriching.
However, I think that it applies more to Junior Primary
Teachers rather than senior Primary Teachers. Nevertheless,
I’m sure that many of these skills can be incorporated in
the senior phase to some extent. Thank you.
The whole course is very impressive, including all the
different resources – charts, cards, assessment sheets,
workbooks etc. It is very thorough. The course works well with
a very competent instructor guiding it – I hope the
materials stand up as well without that ‘force’ behind
them!
Really interesting. I am amazed at the concept. It makes so
much sense and I look forward to teaching it! Thank you.
Outstanding.
A very good course. I learnt a lot from it and look at
teaching, spelling and phonics in a very different light.
Thank you!
A very useful course! We learnt a lot, although we (I) need to
learn about it more to be able to teach others (it can be a
bit tricky). Alan is a very knowledgeable and a good public
speaker. Thank you for the equipment and information.
This course proved to be extremely beneficial to me. I now
feel positive about teaching phonics. The course was
thoroughly enjoyable and I learnt a lot. It is nice to see
that there are still people that feel as passionate about
teaching as I do. Methods were explained really well and were
easy to understand. It is amazing to have received so many
valuable resources and these are greatly appreciated. Alan is
extremely enthusiastic in his work and this was enjoyable to
see.
I think this course was really fabulous and great. We learnt a
lot from this course and we surely will use this in our later
stages of life. Thank you for everything.
Very informative and what an eye opener. What I have learnt is
very valuable and will certainly be put into good practice.
The information was clearly presented and very understandable.
It was fantastic.
The course was really good and the knowledge I have come at
with, I will incorporate into my class one day. I found that
there was so much to take in during the sessions and it became
very hard to concentrate. Excellent course. I get a little
confused with consonant blends; digraphs. Well done with the
presenting of the information using your teaching aids. Well
done.
Outstanding. I thoroughly enjoyed the course. Alan you were so
enthusiastic it makes me feel that way too! Thank you very
much!
Brilliant, excellent, outstanding, amazing. Thank you very
much!
I enjoyed the course, it helped me as a second language
speaker how to pronounce certain words. I think it will be
useful to me, my child and the children I am going to teach.
It has increased my phonemes knowledge. Thank you very much.
I feel that I’m extremely lucky to have had the opportunity
to have exposed to THRASS, both as a teacher and a parent. I
am definitely going to try to implement THRASS when I start
teaching. (If the school allows it).
It was well presented and I think that it contributes to the
overall appeal for THRASS.
Thank you for opening my eyes to the way we teach.
I felt that the course was very helpful. It really made sense.
The course was well presented. The presenter was interesting
and passionate.
Good course! Very informative and descriptive! Thank you for
coming to South Africa!
The THRASS course was fantastic! Excellent guest speaker who
conveyed the ways of teaching THRASS extremely well. I believe
it is an excellent way of teaching phonics and having school
children come in and demonstrate their learning of THRASS
proved this. The course was definitely worth it and thoroughly
enjoyed.
The course was very good but I think it should have been
spread over more days because it is too much to absorb in two
days. The only problem is the writing in SA is different. This
makes it a bit difficult when using the resources in a SA
class. I could definitely apply this knowledge to the private
lessons!
Excellent course! Very informative! I really enjoyed it!
Very exciting, new approach to phonics! This course has given
me a lot to think about. Can’t wait to use THRASS with my
own learners.
I thought the course was definitely worth it. I honestly think
it is definitely necessary for all teachers to be looking
forward to applying it in my class one day – very meaningful
and useful. Thanks, Alan!
A fantastic course, well worth the money! Alan is a brilliant
speaker and presented a very interesting and worthwhile
course. Availability of resources for each student also a good
idea. Thanks for your time.
Course was extremely well presented. It was exciting but also
informative. We can see this programme was created with
practicality in mind – implementation will be a breeze.
Thank you for an enjoyable two days!
It was an excellent course that made me aware of this whole
phonics situation. It’s fascinating what we have learnt and
I do believe it is very beneficial.
I learned a lot from the course. I enjoyed the interactive way
we were taught THRASS. I think that THRASS will benefit the
educational system if implemented correctly.
This was very beneficial and I really hope that I will be able
to teach it in the near future. The singing/rap was the best
part. I can’t believe that any normal teacher would not ever
want to use the THRASS course.
A lot of information to absorb in two full days! Perhaps fewer
hours over a longer period of days – to emphasis more
important concepts. Great concepts – look forward to
implementing the points I did manage to grasp in my class!
I found the course very interesting. The presenter promoted
the course well, and spoke with enthusiasm. I felt that I
benefitted greatly from the course, even though I am a Senior
Primary Student. It was fun and we were all actively taking
part. I believe the learners should benefit from this. Thanks
a lot!
The course is very enriching and I found every aspect of it to
be absolutely true. Alan Davies is really a great speaker and
I am so grateful for learning what I have in the last two
days. Thank you for your time and interest. I feel that you
should go to more schools in S.A. in order to get them to
change from Letterland to THRASS as when I graduate and get a
job I would like to be able to teach THRASS and not Letterland.
Brilliant – I really enjoyed it. It was very interesting to
see how well it worked and how structured it is. It was also
interesting to see how bad the old programme was when compared
to THRASS.
Wow! I found the course both exciting and knowledgeable. The
enthusiasm was transferred from Mr. A. Davies to me as a
future teacher. I love that the learners will be taught in the
correct way from the beginning. I am also glad that the
learners are introduced to words like phoneme and are
encouraged to use them. This is a great course. Thankyou!
The course was very interesting. I really gained a lot. It
really opened up my eyes. I gained new skills of teaching
phonics. I think that each and every teacher should be
introduced to this course. I really had fun. Thank you!
The course was very interesting and fun. Even though it is not
the be and end, I think that I have learned a lot because I
never had a chance to be taught phonics in such depth. I still
have to train myself on the articulation, then I will be able
to pass it on to others. The other thing that makes it
interesting is the way it was presented. We sang, made sound
and had great FUN! Thank you Alan for empowering us and for
your time.
The course has really made me aware of how important phonics
is and what can be done to improve our teaching skills. I
truly feel that all teachers in South Africa should be
introduced to this course because it plays a very important
role in education and it can make a big difference in our
education system. I enjoyed every minute of it and found it
really interesting and fun. Thank you.
This course has taught me about the English language (my 1st
language). In other words things I didn’t know. Secondly, I
feel much more confident teaching phonics to young children
and it is definitely the best strategy we’ve been exposed
to. Thank you.
The course was very good, interesting. I have learnt a lot in
the last 2 days. I have a better understanding of phonics or
language. I can’t wait to start teaching this in my
classroom. You have shown me a new improved way to teach
spelling and phonics. Thank you so much for sharing this
course with us.
As the first students to do this THRASS course in Africa, I
found the course firstly, enjoyable and definitely worthwhile.
The course followed out to be easy to use activities and
resources were superb! Thank you very for them. I want to use
it in the schools where I teach in the near future. During the
past 2 days and captured a lot of information and quite
confident to use THRASS. In South Africa, I will surely go on
to the website as soon as possible to learn more.
I found this course absolutely brilliant. After doing this
course, I can’t believe that something so obvious and simple
could be hidden so well. It’s scary really. I am so excited
to try this method out with children. The course was very
worthwhile and was an excellent bargain. Alan Davies is a
brilliant speaker and got the message across so well. Thank
you so much.
I thought this course was great as it was a completely new
insight into teaching. At first I was wary about the charts as
well as using vocabulary, such as phoneme, grapheme, graph
etc. I changed my mind very quickly after observing the boys,
watching everything put into practice. I will look forward to
utilizing this THRASS within my classroom.
Really interesting. Jam packed, 2 days is a very short time to
cover all this exciting information. Thank you so much for
your time and generosity. It is greatly appreciated.
Alan said it was the children that have learning disabilities
that have difficulties with one letter one sound. This is
brilliant because it will encorporate every single child. Alan
is a dynamic speaker and really got each person talking about
this course. He truly believes in what is said therefore we
believe. Thank you. Thank you for giving us this incredible
tool.
The course was extremely inlightening and taught me things I
would never have thought of if I was teaching. The dislexia
part that was spoken about, for a personal reason, was
extremely interesting and now understand where the child was
coming from.
Absolutely fabulous. What an amazing course. This is the
missing link of what has been taught in the past. Alan is a
fantastic presenter, who keeps the attention of his audience.
Really would like to see THRASS implemented in all schools,
and especially in rural areas. I have so much respect for Alan
for having the courage to put together this wonderful course.
Thank you for all the resources and thank you for taking the
time to share your knowledge with us, student teachers who are
eager to implement this new knowledge.
The course has been very interesting for me as I’m training
as an intermediate phase teacher. The relevance of phonics has
never been important for me, but bad/incorrect spelling has
been an issue in my classroom pracs. It is incredibly helpful
to know that I don’t have to use the ‘old’ rules when
children do not spell correctly. This information has
transformed my understanding of phonics, and how to use it to
its best in my classroom. Also, Alan is an excellent
presenter, and really makes the learning fun. He also models
very good methodology.
This course was great. Alan puts his knowledge across to us in
an easy to understand and fun way. I do believe THRASS is the
most sensible way to teach children reading and spelling.
Thank you for all the materials, we really appreciate it.
AWESOME, I have thoroughly enjoyed this course. It has truelly
been insightful and interesting. I’ve become excited to
impliment this in my classroom. It is a fantastic concept that
has been thoroughly thought through and developed – I love
the practical aspects and examples of activities that can be
used with the given resources. Alan your passion and
enthusiasm of THRASS is clearly evident – certainly an
inspiration. Thank you.
Excellent presentation – amazing energy, passion, dedication
and commitment. Informative, comprehensive and inspiring.
After many years of teaching, this course has given me a
refreshing and renewed interest in the teaching of reading and
spelling. Resources available are varied and exciting.
Answered many queries e.g. syllabification and sounds. But:
exhausting, perhaps should be done over 3 days.
I enjoyed every minute of this course. I think that is the
course that every teachers parents and other responsible
people need. To qualify my reason I can say that yes the old
method worked to a certain degree but confusing special to a e
sounds. But now because of locations on the map that we used
is much clear which sound are we using. And I liked the fact
hat we have to teach children the letter name not only the
sound. Thankx to enrich our knowledge and hoping for the best
of this programme.
The course seems to be a bit compact, too much info has been
piled up. However, I think this is an interesting course,
providing different views of teaching phonics. I will
certainly try my best to seek for a chance to use the
materials from the course in the near future.
THRASS has been such an honour to all of us I hope but I feel
I’ve been fortunate to have attended this course because I
have learnt a lot. I was also alarmed to see that the THRASS
approach is much easier and enjoyable even to young school
kids because the way the boys presented it was a real evidence
of this. I wish THRASS can be able to teach teams around South
Africa because there is a need. Thank you for all the aids we
received from you and for your heart of giving so much to the
world and may THRASS carry on for as long as it can. I wish
you good luck wherever you go from here and may God bless you.
I found this course to be highly informative. I have not only
learnt how to teach reading, writing and phonics correctly,
but I will be able to do it, in a fun and effective way. I
absolutely loved this course and it was most definitely
fantastic. I only hope, that this course (THRASS) will be
incorporated into the Bachelor of Primary Education (BEd)
course in the near future. Thank you so much for inspiring me
to want to teach phonics, reading and writing in a/my
classroom.
I found the 2 day course very interesting and beneficial to my
future education and teaching in the long run. The information
supplied was informative and set out in an easily understood
manner. The resources are user friendly and exceptionally
made. Alan (and cameraman Mike) have been friendly throughout
and have been wonderful in answering questions. A big thank
you for all the hard work and dedication.
The THRASS course, was the most invaluable teaching course I
have yet encountered. The learning of teaching phonics to
children in a meaningful and constructive manner is absolutely
wonderful. The professionalism and sheer dedication shown by
Alan and Mike is great appreciated. A heartfelt thank you, and
a wish of much success for your course in time to come.
Information was greatly understood and materials are
exceptionally user friendly.
This course is excellent. THRASS provides a tool to explain to
learners why different sounds have a variety of spellings.
This is such a relief as I no longer have to tell learners
‘it’s spelt like that because English is a funny language.
Rather, I can given them resources and tods to help explain
variations in spellings.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This was an excellent
learning experience I only wish I had known all this at the
beginning of my teaching career. I can’t wait to start
implementing what I have learnt. A wonderful two days.
The course was fantastic. I’ve learnt and gained so much
through this course. I cannot wait to implement THRASS in my
classroom as well as help my brother as he has a learning
disability. The course has been to my advantage. I really
appreciate receiving all the materials. Thank you.
I liked and enjoyed everything. It was exciting when we do
phonics and the music along. This programme is very important
for us teachers especially those who English is their second
language.
This course was very valuable because it put a different light
on phonics and different ways to teach it. The teaching aids
are fantastic and very useful for teaching. This will
definitely help children that have reading and spelling
problems because they are taking letter sounds and grouping
the same sounds together. Thank you Alan for your time and
insight to better spelling and for the teaching materials.
This has been an absolutely fabulous experience. It was so
professionaly presented and well organised. Most of all – it
made BIG SENSE! We need to implement this in our schools and
get our teachers trained in THRASS. Thank you for your time
and effort to come to South Africa and train us in a course
like this. We really appreciate it.
Amazing, eye opener. The information and concepts are actually
common sense that other strategies made sooo complex. Thanx
for giving me a straight forward strategy that I understand
and will use. You changed my spelling problems.
Fun and educational. I was singing the songs when I got into
bed last night. I’m sure learners will be doing the same
too. Resulting in incidental learning useful not only for my
future students but for myself as well.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share this
information with us. It was extremely interesting and
valuable. It has definitely allowed me to extend and better my
teaching. The course was well presented.
If this was a course on evolution, we would have just
uncovered ‘the missing link’. Thank you for your passion
and igniting it in us. Wishing you continued success.
I found the course inspiring and a clever system. I also think
I will need to revise the concepts covered several times and
try to ‘unlearn’ my previous knowledge to feel confident
to spread the word. Thank you for this opportunity.
Thank you so much for sharing this concept with us. I am very
keen to incorporate this in my class. However, I was a
shocking speller at school as well as now and am no where
nearly confident enough to teach this. It is a great ideas and
it works so I am going to try my best to work at it. Thank
you.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the course. I have learnt so much
that will definitely assist me when I start teaching. Even
though I am an intermediate teacher, the skills I have
acquired will make a difference in my classroom for the
learners. Thank you for all the resources. God bless you.
I think this course was fantastic. It has opened my yes and I
feel confident about teaching children about reading and
spelling which in the past has been a blind spot for me. Thank
you very much for all you have given us.
I really thought the course was worthwhile. I firmly believe
that learners should be using this method due the fact that it
encourages as well as helps learners to spell, read and write
efficiently. I also think that it really benefitted the junior
primary teachers but will also help within the intermediate
phase. Alan seems very dedicated and is hilarious in the
class. Thank you.
This is a very brilliant course. I have enjoyed it very much.
I’ve learned a lot because I’m battling with the language
even with writing but after this I think I’ll do better.
Every easy and very basic. Thank you.
I felt that the course was very valuable it has taught me so
much. For a person with reading and spelling problems I wish I
had THRASS during my school year. I love the ‘raps’, very
enjoyable. Alan made the course fun and exciting. Thank you.
The course was fantastic and it has opened my mind about
phonics. I am very excited to get into the classroom and start
teaching phonics by using the THRASS programme. The materials
are excellent and I will be putting in an order for more
materials. Alan is a superb speaker and he makes you eager to
learn because he makes it fun and interesting.
I thoroughly enjoyed this THRASS course over the past 2 days.
Alan captured my attention and I felt that I could easily
understand exactly what was being implemented. The new
learning of handwriting, reading and spelling is a wonderful
method and I look forward to ordering some materials and
implementing them myself.
I thoroughly enjoyed the course and think it is an exciting
way to teach our learners a new way of handwriting, reading
and spelling. I am excited to try this method out.
I think this was a wonderful, very useful and valuable course.
I think it should be done in 2nd or 3rd year so that we could
see it being implemented in the schools. I do however feel it
was a lot to take in and therefore should have rather been
done in 4 days rather then 2. Thank you for the wonderful
resources which, I am sure will be used and may will benefit
from. I look forward to trying it out on the children I teach.
This is a fantastic progam if I should say it truelly gets you
thinking about what you’ve been taught and how can you
change that. It has helped me to answer the questions that
I’ve been asking myself when it comes to reading and
spelling skills. This is awesome, wow! Thank you.
This course was an excellent course and is really true and
relates to phonics happening in schools. It really has
inspired me to teach phonics according to THRASS as it makes
more sense and is more meaningful than ordinary phonics
teaching. The resources given were excellent and a great help
to start. Thank you very much.
The course and the idea is excellent. It was just a bit long.
Perhaps do the course over 3 days instead of 2. It is very
easy to lose concentration during such an intense course.
I enjoyed the course so much. I’ve learned a lot and think I
will use the skills I got to adapt the program to use in Zulu
language. Thank you Alan for your beautiful presentation.
The course was excellent in every respect. I have certainly
been helped out of the novice group in terms of phonics. The
only suggestion I have is more demonstration would help
reinforce concepts, as you did when you taught the groups of
boys. Thank you.
A well presented course, delivered with passion. This approach
has been clearly explained, and makes a lot of sense to me. I
am extremely motivated to try it out. Thank you.
This course is brilliant. I battled as a young girl and if I
had known about this it probably wouldn’t have battled as
much. Thank you for everything. This would be useful to many
teachers that are already out there.
I found this course to be a valuable part of my education and
feel that I will enjoy teaching this. I think that it will
help learners with reading and spelling. It is an incredible
way to learn and it makes sense. Thank you for coming.
I thoroughly enjoyed this course. I found it extremely
beneficial and can’t wait to use it in the schools. The
children will benefit a great deal too. Thank you very much.
THRASS is essential for future learners. I found that this
course helped me to correct my own spelling errors and I think
it could help learners with difficulties such as mine.
Wonderful course which has opened my eyes to the common
mistakes made today and most importantly the corrections and
solutions.
This course has been a brilliant experience. I feel that I
have learned so much in these past two days and that the
things I learned are important. THRASS is an excellent method
to teach young learners, things are so much clearer now. I
hope that one day I will be able to use this in the teaching
process because I strongly believe in it and agree 100%
Thankyou.
FABULOUS! Even though I am an intermediate phase teacher, I
feel equipped to help and equip my own learners with the
necessary language skills. Thought the ‘raps’ were
brilliant. Some sessions felt long (brain overload). THRASS is
like nothing I’ve seen before. Alan is hilarious,
inspirational! A refreshing spirit. Thank you.
I found that this course has made me look at literacy in a
completely different way. It’s made me realise that as
children and teachers, we have been exposed to incorrect
literacy programme and that a letter should never be labelled
with one sound only. This programme is revolutionary as it
exposed teachers and children to the true nature of phonics. I
feel that it is the solution to many literacy problems as well
as the problem of overload amongst teachers.
One of the most interesting and captivating speakers. I love
the THRASS way of teaching – I’m hooked and I believe the
system is awesome and makes a lot of sense. I will definitely
use THRASS in my classroom. Amazing and brilliant.
The course was very interesting and informative. It makes a
lot of sense and I think it will do wonders. However,
implementation needs to start from Gr R and this is where the
government needs to intervene and allow for this change. Alan
has a very wonderful way of presenting the course and is
obviously very passionate about THRASS. I think it was time
well spent.
Superb. Exhausting but very exciting. Alan has enormous
passion, great skill, a wide knowledge and energy which will
be hard to match. Paradigm shift for me in many ways but it
makes absolute sense!
Thank you, thank you, thank you Alan! An outstanding course
for student teachers who have had an opportunity of a life
time. THRASS has inspired these students, as well as made them
think deeply about the nature of the code used in spelling and
reading. This course will be a compulsory module in the B.Ed
degree from now on. It is essential for all pre-service
teachers and practising teachers.
3. Unpublished Letter to British Newspaper: 9 June 2005
A copy of this letter was sent
to THRASS UK, as a matter of courtesy. Why
Do You Ignore Your Phonics Prophet?
I have read the House of Commons report, Teaching Children to
Read, and am familiar with the current debate, in the British
press, about the teaching of phonics in the National Literacy
Strategy. We have recently become the first university,
worldwide, to make it compulsory for all Foundation Phase
student teachers to attend the THRASS (Teaching Handwriting
Reading And Spelling Skills) two-day accredited certificate
course.
The THRASS phonics programme,
pioneered by an Englishman, is highly regarded worldwide and,
indeed, Australian school teachers (known for their expertise
in literacy) attended over four-hundred days of training last
year. My colleagues and I are surprised that the Select
Committee, as part of their enquiry, did not interview Alan
Davies, a British educational psychologist and a well-known
phonics expert.
There are thousands of
written evaluations from a large number of THRASS courses on
the internet. Soon, well over a hundred more evaluations, from
student teachers in South Africa, will be added to the THRASS
website. Two of my students wrote, "I have seen THRASS
implemented in schools in Johannesburg .… I believe that
this will help eliminate the literacy problems we are
currently faced with in South Africa" and the other
wrote, "Now that I know about THRASS it is impossible to
ignore it". I have a particular interest in the teaching
of reading and have been a teacher educator, at a university
with an international reputation, for over twenty years. I
agree with these sentiments – along with all the other
evaluations written by my students and staff.
I am aware that the UK has
Presidency of the G8 and the European Union (EU) during 2005,
and your Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has pledged to make 2005
"the year our eyes opened to the full reality of
Africa". One of the problems in Africa is poor basic
literacy. The South African report, National Reading Strategy
for Foundation Phase (Department of Education, July 2004) has
a mission statement that includes "To educate and train
teachers at Foundation Phase to teach reading and
writing". We have taken a very serious look at THRASS,
and we believe we have found the missing link for teaching
English, which we intend sharing with other universities.
I have a simple question, why
does the British Government ignore the phonics prophet in ‘his
hometown’?
Dr Jean Place
Principal Tutor
Foundation Phase Division
University of the Witwatersrand
Education Campus
27 St Andrews Road
Parktown
Johannesburg 2196
SOUTH AFRICA
Switchboard Tel. +27 11 717 3007
4.
Brain Gym Expert Gives Support
Dr Melodie de Jager is the Brain Gym expert in South Africa.
She is the author of Brain Gym® for All and also
Baby Gym®. In her forthcoming book, Mind Moves:
Removing Barriers to Learning, to be
published in February 2006, she states: "THRASS doesn't
just train children's brains for reading and spelling, it
trains children's brains for learning!"
About Dr de Jager
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