Staff Training

I can deliver training for systematic, synthetic phonics tailored to the needs of each of the following groups:

• EYFS and Key Stage One teachers and teaching assistants

• Key Stage Two teachers and teaching assistants

• Volunteers supporting children's reading across school

• Parents, carers, wider family and other adults

I can also work with the school's early reading and phonics lead to develop training and information sessions or support materials which they can then deliver themselves or in collaboration with me. This provides a valuable professional development opportunity for a colleague who has little experience of this kind of activity.

It is crucial that every adult involved in a child's literacy development understands and can effectively support their early attempts at decoding and encoding written language using their phonic knowledge and skills. That group of adults of course includes teachers in the EYFS and Key Stage 1 and teaching assistants are equal partners in that responsibility, often leading daily SSP lessons and intervention or support groups (Ofsted expects all 'staff' in the EYFS to be 'expert' in teaching SSP). Those teachers who see themselves as Key Stage 2 focused must also be confident and competent in SSP - first to support those children in KS2 who have not yet secured decoding skills, and also to support the transition from phonic to conventional spelling. Any volunteers who read with children in EYFS and KS1, when children are still developing their decoding skills, must be equipped to support children's reading to support the approach used in daily phonics lessons. Parents, carers and other adults who might read with children outside of school such as older siblings, grandparents and wider family members, childminders or after-school care practitioners can provide more effective support if they are able to use the approaches to decoding of the SSP programme.