Train-the-Teacher
This Train-the-Teacher programme is specifically designed for children in KS1 and KS2 with an EHC plan who are not making progress with synthetic phonics. Parents can request funding through their child’s EHC plan to access this unique approach, tailored to help children who are struggling with reading and spelling. Contact us to discuss if this is appropriate for your child or student. Support@SpeechSoundMapping.com
Train-the-Teacher: A Unique 4-Week Speech Sound Mapping (SSM) Programme for Children with EHC Plans
Our Train-the-Teacher programme, using Speech Sound Mapping (SSM), is designed to empower educators and children alike. Specifically created for children with an Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plan, this innovative 4-week experience blends one-on-one mentoring with personalised learning plans guided by Emma Hartnell-Baker, the neurodivergent Reading Whisperer®.
How It Works
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Initial Assessment and Setup The programme begins with an in-depth assessment of the child, followed by a 2-hour training session for the teacher or teaching assistant (TA). During this session:
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A dedicated learning corner is set up specifically for the child’s needs.
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The first two activities are introduced, designed to align with the child’s personalised learning goals. They will take 10 - 20 minutes.
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Daily Activities and Feedback
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The following day, the learning coach (teacher or TA) will begin the activities. Each activity is recorded on video and sent directly to Miss Emma for feedback.
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Miss Emma provides a video voice-over, offering expert insights and guidance. The learning coach reviews this feedback before continuing to extend the activities and add new activities with the child.
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These video clips are securely uploaded to a private area on our website for viewing by parents, carers, and other key workers at the school. The videos cannot be downloaded or shared publicly, ensuring confidentiality and privacy.
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Ongoing Guidance and Adaptation The programme is adaptive and evolves according to the child’s progress. Miss Emma observes the video sessions and provides ongoing guidance to the learning coach. This collaborative approach ensures the learning experience is tailored to the child’s evolving needs.
Unique Mentoring and Support
This one-on-one mentoring by a world-leading expert is invaluable. The learning coach will not only learn to observe and assess the child’s progress but also analyse their own instructional methods. This is the only known programme globally that offers such an integrated approach, combining the analysis of both the child’s learning journey and the teacher’s effectiveness.
Progress Monitoring and Reporting
We use specialised assessment tools to measure starting points and track the child’s progress throughout the programme. These tools allow us to measure not only how far the child has progressed but also the effectiveness of the learning coach’s approach. The assessments align with the Department for Education’s (DfE) Reading Framework and the National Curriculum, making them valuable for reporting purposes, including EHC plan reviews and school reporting.
At the end of the 4-week programme, a detailed report will be written about both the child’s development and the learning coach’s instructional impact. This dual-reporting approach provides a comprehensive view of the child’s learning journey and the reasons behind their progress.
This Speech Sound Mapping (SSM) programme is a transformative learning experience that builds long-lasting skills for both the child and the educator. By immersing in a supportive, tailored environment, children can thrive, while learning coaches grow into more effective, insightful educators. Parents and carers are encouraged to participate from home, making this a collaborative effort between school and family.
Get in touch to explore how Train-the-Teacher can make a difference for your child and their learning coach.
Programme Cost
The Train-the-Teacher intensive 4-week programme is available for £2,750, which includes:
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Two sets of resources: One for home and one for school/tutor use.
Parents can request this to be funded through their child’s EHC plan when they have poor phonemic awareness, are struggling with synthetic phonics, and are below expected levels for reading and spelling.
Speech Sound Mapping
The phonics content found in synthetic phonics programmes is included in our approach, but we teach it in a completely different way. Kensi, an autistic learner, preferred using technology and benefited greatly from the I Can Read Without You (ICRWY) lessons app—tech access that’s included in the Train-the-Teacher programme for both home and school use.
Kensi’s pattern-seeking brain thrived with our visual and linguistic phonics approach, enabling her to build orthographic knowledge in a way that truly resonated with her. This tailored method allowed her to work independently, using the synthetic phonics content as a foundation while developing a deeper understanding of the universal spelling code. She felt both empowered and engaged throughout her learning journey.
She was able to use synthetic phonics resources, like 'Code Level' (decodable) readers, but in ways that led to a comprehensive understanding of English and its opaque orthography. This approach is essential for children to develop reading fluency, comprehension, and the ability to store words in the orthographic lexicon, ensuring easy retrieval when writing. The tech also offers an easier way for autistic children to learn 'keywords' - irregular high frequency words.
Kai - autistic - learning high frequency words
Liv - dyslexic - mapping words in the SSM Learning Corner
Many of our Ducklings love mapping with 'Speech Sound Pics' (graphemes) - not just the Phonemies - although our priority is not that they can read before starting school, but that they have the phonemic awareness needed to be protected from reading and spelling difficulties - and especially if they are neuroddivergent.
