A training-based programme

At Sounds-Write we believe teacher knowledge is crucial to ensure success. After all, the single greatest factor in improving student outcomes is strong teacher knowledge.

There are many phonics schemes and resources out there, but Sounds-Write focuses first and foremost on developing teacher knowledge, empowering educators to forge a brighter future for their students by following the latest innovations in teaching theory.

What does the course cover?

• Learn how to teach the skills, concepts, and code knowledge students need to master in order to become competent readers, writers, and spellers.
• Discover how to introduce them to the Initial Code in the first year of school, moving from CVC words to words with a progressively more complex structure, and then transitioning to learning the Extended Code, alongside polysyllabic words in Y1.
• Learn how to teach all the different Sounds-Write lessons (or activity types), and have ample opportunity to practice them yourself.
• Find out how to teach Sounds-Write to groups of different sizes, so you can work with the whole class, small intervention groups, or one-to-one.
• Learn how to teach through errors—one of the cornerstones of the Sounds-Write approach—and how to conduct formative assessment and use differentiation as an integral part of your teaching.
• Learn how to assess where a new student should start the programme.

More about our Practitioners’ Online Training

The Sounds-Write Practitioners’ Online Training has been designed by John Walker, the author of the Sounds-Write programme, together with experts in online learning, based on the science of reading and the science of learning. It comprises presentations, lesson demonstrations and a range of other activities and content. The course includes a robust rationale for linguistic phonics and covers the theoretical underpinnings of the programme. There are quizzes and online assignments that you must complete to gain a course certificate.