The THRASS programme for teaching synthetic phonics has for some time been gaining in popularity in several countries in Africa but the current tour of South Africa by Alan Davies, the British Educational Psychologist who pioneered THRASS, is finding many there welcoming THRASS as opening the door to major educational and other opportunities across the region.

Dr Melodie de Jager, author of ‘Mind Moves’ and a professional African commentator, recognises that “a workforce that is literate is vital if our rainbow nation is to grow and prosper. If we want to empower people to move forward in our country, if we want a productive and agile workforce, we need to get literate people. If we want to get literate people, we need to find a system that is as revolutionary as THRASS”. Dr Jean Place, Principal Tutor, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, agrees with Dr de Jager that THRASS is a revolutionary approach to teaching English that provides learners of all ages and abilities not just with handwriting, reading and spelling skills but also with valuable life skills training.

The major contribution that THRASS can make to equipping learners with the skills needed to take advantage of the myriad of opportunities in today’s world is also being recognised by the development of Setswana and Zulu versions of the Phoneme Machine, a ground-breaking computer programme developed by Alan Davies, that uses the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) pronunciation system and moving human lips to demonstrate the pronunciation of sounds (phonemes) and hundreds of frequently used English words. Setswana and Zulu are widely spoken in Southern Africa, along with such languages as English and Afrikaans.

And in the Kwena Basin in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa learning English is becoming increasingly important for the children as it takes over from Afrikaans as the language of the local landowners. A group of Third Year Foundation Stage student teachers from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg on school experience there recently were amazed at the speed and ability of the children to learn using THRASS. Many of them spoke little or no English at the outset but they really loved using THRASS and were soon making amazing progress. 

In South Africa the success of THRASS is such that the THRASS Accredited Certificate is already a compulsory module for Foundation Phase student teachers at both the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and the University of Pretoria, and other universities in Africa have also expressed interest in making it a compulsory module.

Teaching staff in the schools where THRASS is used also recognise the way in which it is equipping children with essential life skills and opening the door to opportunity. Darryl Geffen, Headmaster of Masibambane College, Orange Farm township said “As a country we have some major issues to tackle, including poverty and Aids. I believe that if South Africa is to grow and deal with these issues, our children must be able to confidently communicate with the rest of the world. THRASS is empowering a group of people who were previously disempowered.”

The impressive list of delegates from universities, associations and governments all over Africa and beyond to a workshop that Alan Davies and his wife Hilary are sponsoring 5-9 June at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, demonstrates the importance attached to THRASS and to its potential for equipping learners in Africa to take advantage of the many opportunities in today’s world.

Notes to editors

1. THRASS (Teaching Handwriting, Reading and Spelling Skills) is a whole-school synthetic phonics programme for teaching learners of all ages and abilities using pictures and keywords. It is a multi-sensory programme that is based on developing Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic skills in learners and helps them to understand the building blocks of the English language by teaching them about the 44 phonemes (speech sounds) of spoken English and the 120 graphemes (spelling choices) of written English.

2. Using THRASS in a balanced curriculum can more than double the normal rate of progress for learning reading and spelling for primary and secondary school children and also for dyslexics and those for whom English is not their first language. THRASS is a truly international programme and THRASS resources are used by teachers, parents, educational psychologists and speech and language therapists in thousands of schools worldwide, mostly in the UK, Europe, Australia and Africa and there is currently very strong demand for THRASS in Southern and Western Africa. The Botswana Government is to pilot THRASS and, if successful, it will be implemented in all primary and secondary schools.

3. Alan Davies MSc C Psychol AFBPsS is a chartered educational psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. He is listed on the BPS Register of Competence in Occupational Testing, having successfully secured the Statement of Competence in Educational Testing (Level A). He also has the Dyslexia Institute Diploma and British Dyslexia Association Diploma. Alan is a former teacher, college lecturer and university teacher trainer.  Alan has pioneered THRASS (Teaching Handwriting, Reading and Spelling Skills) resources and courses since 1987 and is the author of the teaching guide, TEACHING THRASS.

4. Alan Davies and his wife Hilary believe that targeted funding to improve communications within Africa through such international languages as English, is the key to empowerment. They have already donated £40,000, which has funded a ‘Centre of Excellence’ for the teaching of English at Masibambane College, in the Orange Farm township and has benefited 300 student teachers at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and 80 teachers of the deaf, following training at Fulton School in KwaZulu-Natal.

5. Alan Davies developed the THRASS Phoneme Machine primarily for those for whom English is not their first language, for parents of children starting to read and for children finding reading difficult (including those with speech difficulties, hearing difficulties or dyslexia). It uses the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) pronunciation system (the symbols listed in the pronunciation guide at the front of many English dictionaries) and moving human lips to demonstrate the pronunciation of hundreds of words frequently found in children's reading books and give them a good understanding of the 44 sounds (phonemes) and the 120 main spelling choices (graphemes) of English.

6. Further information about the THRASS Kwena Basin project and streamed video taken in the Farm Schools can be found at www.thrass.co.uk/thrassgoeslive.htm. The student teachers received 30 minutes training in using THRASS prior to doing their school experience at Farm Schools in the Kwena Basin. They will shortly complete their two-day compulsory THRASS module and in June will be coming to the UK and visiting schools in Cardiff, Birmingham and Milton Keynes, where they will be teaching parents.

7. Further details of the workshop ‘Time for a New Phonics Approach for Teaching English in Africa?’, to be hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 5-9 June 2006 can be found at www.thrass.co.uk/witsworkshop.htm along with streamed video of THRASS in action in South Africa, Botswana and Ghana.

Training Courses

8. THRASS Professional Development Courses are held regularly in the UK, Europe, West and Southern Africa. Full details can be found at http://www.thrass.co.uk/courses.htm

9. Alan Davies is also the author of an accredited 'Phonics Certificate for Parents' training course which was first run at Oxley Park Primary School, Milton Keynes, England, in September 2005 and attended by 50 parents. More information on the certificate can be found at www.phonics4parents.co.uk. The website also has links to 3D animations, a free email course (on the features, phases and stages of the THRASS programme), downloadable files (e.g. the photocopiable THRASS Calendar Chart) and streamed video of features, interviews, demonstration lessons and a school’s video diary.)

Resources

10.     The THRASS Phoneme Machine is available to parents and schools and costs only 10.00 GBP (plus VAT), which covers its use on any number of computers at the same address. It comes with a free DVD/CD DualDisc, containing over four hours of video of THRASS in action in the UK and Africa, including two one-hour presentations to parents. More information, including an online and downloadable trial versions for both PC and Mac computers can be found at www.phonememachine.com.

11. A wide range of other resources, including tapes, a CD, worksheets, big books and guided readers is available for parents and schools and can be found in the ‘Resources’ section of the main website at www.thrass.co.uk/resources.htm.

Further Press Releases

12. Over the next few weeks further press releases will be issued to coincide with

• the ‘Time for a New Phonics Approach for Teaching English in Africa?’ workshop to be hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 5-9 June;
   
• the ‘Day of the African Child’ on 16 June;
   
•  the visit of a delegation of UK head teachers and advisers to the Kwena Basin THRASS Project, South Africa;
   
• the visit of the Third Year Foundation Stage student teachers from the University of the Witwatersrand who were taking part in the Kwena Basin Project to schools in the UK.

Issued by: THRASS UK News Media Centre www.thrass.co.uk/nm.htm to coincide with the World Economic Forum on Africa, Cape Town, South Africa, 31 May – 2 June 2006