Anita Harley, Phonics Lead at Princecroft Primary School in the rural town of Warminster in the UK, describes how a focus on teacher development and using Sounds-Write with fidelity has resulted in increased attainment in phonics and spelling for children, the vast majority of whom now meet or exceed expected standards. [For the complete volume,…

Prior to implementing Sounds-Write in 2016, phonics attainment in Year 1 at Selby Primary School in North Yorkshire (UK) was at or above the national average, but little progress was made by the weaker readers by the end of Key Stage 2. Emma Darwin, Phonics Lead at the school, presents data for a Year 4 cohort who have been taught using…

In this case study, Sarah Horner and Jane Orr from the Bloomfield Learning Centre, a specialist literacy clinic run as a charity and serving the poorest parts of London, report on how Sounds-Write helped a student regain his self-confidence and motivation for learning, after difficulties in reading had led to behaviour problems and a dislike of…

In this case study, Charlotte MacKechnie reports on improvements in reading and spelling for all children at Angel Oak Academy in South East London following the adoption of Sounds-Write. They use a three-teacher model to support small-group and one-to-one 'keep up' interventions to ensure children are not left behind in their phonics learning.…

St George's Primary, in Battersea, south London, began using Sounds-Write in 2011. Alexandra Hammond, current Key Stage 1 and Phonics Lead, presents spelling test data to illustrate progress and achievement for a group of twenty students from Year 1 to Year 6. [For the complete volume, "Systematic Synthetic Phonics: Case Studies from Sounds…

Kendall Hammond, Associate Principal at Nollamara Primary and Intensive English School in Perth, explains how their commitment to explicit direct instruction made Sounds-Write a natural choice for the teaching of reading and spelling in a school where three-quarters of students have English as an additional language. [For the complete volume,…

Naomi Stockley, Rianna Tatana, Roshni Kaur, and Alice Reynolds offer some early insights into the implementation of Sounds-Write at The Pavilion School, a specialist provision in the northern suburbs of Melbourne for vulnerable students who have been excluded from mainstream education and face significant personal challenges. [For the complete…

In this case study, Katie Eichhorn, Kathy Gilbert, Myra Hall, Gretchen Lawyer, and Jill Nunez from Johnson STEAM Academy in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, share data showing improved reading results after their first year of implementation of Sounds-Write, including a successful partnership with a local middle school to use Sounds-Write with Grade 7 students…

In 2013, the so-called Viducation project was launched at the Institute of Romance Studies at the University of Kiel4 (CAU) as a reaction to the new Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Arts degree programmes in order to improve students' learning skills and core competences by creating subject-related videos. Filmmaking by students is already widely…

Every year, around 120 students of French at the University of Manchester (UoM) prepare to go on their compulsory Year Abroad (YA). They are free to choose between different options: studying in France and the French-speaking world, working in diverse sectors throughout the French-speaking world, or becoming a language assistant. This wealth of…

This article describes the extra support required for outgoing students on their Year Abroad (YA) journey. It highlights the increasing need for and relevance of peer mentoring of YA students in preparing them to deal with different structures and organisations where external support might be insufficient or even non-existent. It also outlines…

In this chapter, the authors argue that there are five different dimensions of continuing professional development (CPD) crucial to its effectiveness. It should be: (1) systematic; (2) collaborative; (3) innovative; (4) reflective; and (5) digital. For each dimension, they give several concrete examples to illustrate the kind of CPD that they are…

In this chapter I describe the emergency delivery of the Cambridge University institution-wide Language Programme (CULP) during the COVID-19 lockdown in March-July 2020. I am the Director of the Programme and report from a managerial point of view. I begin by outlining the institutional context and the student and teaching staff backgrounds. I…

Sounds-Write is a systematic synthetic phonics approach that has been successfully used to teach students to read and spell for the last two decades. This volume brings together twelve case studies -- written by practitioners -- of implementation of the Sounds-Write programme in different settings and geographical contexts (Europe, US, Australia).…

Pathways to Youth Leadership was an Erasmus+: Youth in Action long term training involving 24 youngsters from 12 countries. Grant cuts required squeezing the residential programme, originally planned to last three weeks, into two. That is why, after taking part in the Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange (E+VE) training, we successfully added five VE…