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Readsuccessfully.com was mentioned this weekend in the Weekend section (p12) of the Daily Telegraph – see The HeadMastersVoice Q&A column.

The Question was to do with wanting to help children learn to read. The Answer gave various information and it concluded with ....... "A good place to start would be Readsuccessfully.com".

We now have a facebook page where we will keep you updated with the latest news!

A very happy and successful visit from Ingrid and Astrid from Sweden.

The Swedish trugs are going very well.

The Function Room in E Block was fully occupied on 15 March, 2011, for a very special launch and training event. The College hosted a Continuing Professional Development Day, organised by PATOSS South Wales/De Cymru, a local group of the Professional Association of Teachers of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties.

The Group offers CPD opportunities, free of charge, to professionals with an interest in Dyslexia and related conditions with delegates traveling as far afield as Aberystwyth, Welshpool and Newtown to take part. It is through the generosity of hosting establishments that the Group is able to offer free CPD and the College was pleased to be able to help in this way.

The training sessions were attended by seventy delegates, including twenty College Staff. The presentations Included a talk by Emeritus Professor Angela Fawcett, of Swansea University.

Professor Fawcett has been involved in a benchmarking exercise across Wales, looking at provision for students with Dyslexia, and her very informative talk covered the process of this benchmarking. She also talked about a project which has helped with the setting up of Dyslexia support services in Eastern Europe and about her project with school children in the Bridgend area.

Another speaker was Jean Bines, a very experienced adviser of Mathematics teachers, who provided insights into the role of language and memory problems in difficulties with Mathematics, particularly Dyscalculia.

However, even these excellent presentations were a little overshadowed by the launch of the Welsh language version of trugs. The learning game, Trugs – teaching reading using games, is an effective way of helping people of all ages to learn to read and differentiated materials are available for learners of different ages. The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) commissioned the development of the Welsh-language version of trugs and the first set of materials, for younger learners, was launched during the lunch break of the CPD Day.

Guests at the launch included senior members of the WAG commissioning team and advisory panel, Head Teachers and Staff of Welsh-medium schools and language Teachers’ union. Margaret Lippard, of the College’s Board of Governors, welcomed the launch party to the College and Caerphilly’s Assembly Member, Jeff Cuthbert, carried out the launch itself. The event was rounded off by a vote of thanks and best wishes from PATOSS’s National Chairperson, Louise Green.

After the launch, Joanna Jeffery, trugs designer and co-author of the Welshlanguage version, gave a talk about the principles used in the development of trugs. Delegates and guests were able to play the games, an enjoyable experience, if the laughter and the intensity of concentration of the participants was anything to go by.

In celebration of the launch, Joanna treated the guests and delegates to a superb buffet lunch, prepared and served by students of the College’s Catering Department. The Function Room and Scholars Restaurant complex proved to be an ideal setting for a fully-catered training day and it is to be hoped that this will be the first of many such events.

On March 15th 2011 at the College Ystrad Mynach, Jeff Cuthbert Assembly Member for Caerphilly launched the Welsh trugs Box 1.  The event was very well attended and took place during the PATOSS CPD conference.  

Those present with Jeff are Eleri Jones, Alwena Thomas and Joanna Jeffery, co-authors and Aylwyn Bowen, Graphic Designer.