Foundations of Literacy
Sue Palmer
Wednesday, 13th June 2012 – Central London
Course leader: Sue Palmer
If we are to raise standards in literacy, our teaching must be based on firm foundations. At present, many children(especially boys) fall at the first fence in literacy learning, and spend their school careers on catch-up programmeswhich, sadly, do not seem to work.
This course is based on the book ‘Foundations of Literacy’ (now going into its forth edition), by literacy specialist Sue Palmer and Early Years expert Ros Bayley who worked for many years with speech therapists, educational psychologista and teachers around the UK and Europe to find the best possible foundation for literacy learning in the early years. It draws particularly on practice in Finland, the country that scores best in international surveys of literacy attainment and also came second in the UNICEF survey of childhood well-being.
Sue Palmer is well known to teachers around the UK through her popular inservice courses. She has written hundreds of books and articles on aspects of literacy and contributed to many national training packages, as well as writing regularly in the educational press and acting as a literacy consultant to the BBC. Since her 2006 bestseller ‘Toxic Childhood’ helped start a national debate about children’s well-being, she’s been involved in many campaigns about childhood, and has been listed by the ‘Evening Standard’ as one of the 20 most influential people in British education.
Who should attend?
- Primary headteachers, senior management and literacy coordinators
- Early years practitioners and Managers
- Local Authority Early Years/Literacy/Primary Advisers
THE COURSE FEE INCLUDES A COPY OF THE BOOK, Foundations of Literacy, WORTH £19.95
Course Outline:
The Foundations of Literacy approach involves seven strands of practice:
*LEARNING TO LISTEN – the systematic development of listening and attention skills *TIME TO TALK – the huge importance of developing children’s spoken language, including ways of compensating for language delay *MUSIC, MOVEMENT AND MEMORY – the key part played by music in underpinning the development of language, literacy and learning in general *STORYTIME – using children’s fiction and storytelling techniques to prepare children for reading and writing *LEARNING ABOUT PRINT – developing concepts of print through a range of activities , but especially role-play and emergent reading and writing *TUNING INTO SOUND – developing phonological awareness, and the teaching of phonics for reading and writing *MOVING INTO WRITING – preparation for handwriting through movement, music and drama.
The course will alsoinclude consideration of:
- the gender gap, and provision for boys’ ( and girls’) learning in early years
- the place of ICT in early years education.
Evaluation.
Fees
The fee for the course is £255 plus VAT (Total £306) per delegate. The fee includes all refreshments, lunch, and course documentation. Discounts for multiple bookings are available. Please telephone or fax the organisers for details.