About the 3 week Revisited Course

What is Sounds-Write Revisited?

This is a brand new, 3 week, online, self-paced course that allows Sounds-Write practitioners with more than 12 months experience implementation to revisit video demonstrations of all the lessons, the theory and implementation models that will help support your ongoing delivery of the pedagogy with even greater fidelity and understanding.

The course has been designed by John Walker, the author of the Sounds-Write programme, together with experts in online learning, giving you in-depth and interactive course content. The course is asynchronous, so you can study in your own time for the three weeks while the course is open.

The course is led by one or more of our experienced trainers who will provide you, and the cohort of trainees studying alongside you, with support along the way. As well as the pre-recorded course content, the trainers will answer your questions and work with you in developing your practice through focused workshops via Zoom.

The 3 weeks of the course gives you time to refresh your phonics teaching and although you can do the course in its entirety, we recommend you focus on the sections that are most relevant to you.

COURSE CONTENT: Approximately 1 hour of work is for the introductory section. This is mainly to enable you to find your way around the platform, introduce yourself and meet your trainer and other trainees. The course includes a discussion forum where you will be able to ask questions, and where you will contribute to some course discussions.

The main content of the course is divided into 4 parts each taking approximately 5 to 7 hours of study. You can do ANY OR ALL of the sections. You could, for instance, focus on reviewing the theory, (which we strongly recommend,) and say, how to teach the Extended Code. You could also cover all the content of the course! It is up to you.

Part 1: Sounds-Write: underlying theory
Part 2: The Initial Code
Part 3: The Extended Code
Part 4: Teaching Polysyllabic Words.
Part 5 is 2 hours work on implementing Sounds-Write in schools. It also refers to the latest overview of Sounds-Write resources and support.

WEEKLY ZOOMS: There are also three live, group ZOOM sessions during the course. These sessions will be organised by the trainers. These will take the form of a live Q&A, providing you with the opportunity to consolidate your understanding and dig deeper into any nitty-gritty questions you may have. For those who cannot attend the live sessions, these will be recorded and made available to all during the course for a limited period of time.

YOUR COMMITMENT: To ensure you get the most from the course it is important that you plan ahead so that you will have quality time to concentrate on the course, as it is demanding and will require active engagement on your part. If you work in a school that is operating under social distancing rules, you should also check with your line manager that you will be able to have the time to study the course.

EQUIPMENT AND SKILLS: To access the course and do the course activities, you will need access to a PC or laptop (including Mac). You SHOULD NOT do the course on your phone or on a tablet, as some of the quiz activities will not work well. Your computer should have Chrome or Firefox as the preferred browsers. (Please note that the course will not be fully functional with Microsoft Edge and that you might not be able to complete parts of the course if this is your only available browser).

You will also need a connection speed good enough and stable enough to watch the course videos.

If you are accessing the course website from work, it is your responsibility to check with your IT manager that the firewall at your school/workplace will enable you to access external content, i.e. the content from our course platform. You might need to whitelist our platform, as well as vimeo.com, where the course videos are hosted.