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PLD can be implemented at any time throughout the school year. PLD recommends commencing explicit SSP instruction and regular screening and tracking as early as possible to make the most of the teaching weeks within the school year. This article outlines how to begin implementing PLD within Term 2. Step 1: Register for & set […]

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Are you confident with your Term 2 teaching programs? Do you know exactly what to teach and when to implement it? In these new 7 to 10 minute videos, Diana guides teachers through the most important areas to focus on during this term and how to deal with the range in abilities in your classroom. She also explains […]

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PLD are often asked to provide support and feedback on tracking sheets.  As this is a complimentary service, and one that we are happy to provide to schools implementing PLD, we ask that tracking sheets be sent through in the recommended format.  PLD receives hundreds of queries, requests, and calls for support and if every […]

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Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the 2021 Australian Educational Publishing Awards were held online in September. Celebrating its 28th year, the awards evening brought together publishers to acknowledge excellence and award businesses going above and beyond for the advancement of students. Organised by the Australian Publishers Association, the prestigious annual Educational Publishing Awards reward excellence and […]

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The most fundamental responsibility of schools is teaching students to read, spell and write. Literacy affects academic performance in all subjects and is associated with later social, emotional, economic and physical health. After decades of multidisciplinary research, the scientific community has largely reached a consensus on how children learn to read, what is effective instruction, […]

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PLD is delighted that our evidence-based literacy programs are ranked along other high-quality and well-designed programs for teaching Structured Synthetic Phonics (SSP) in primary schools.  In the January edition of The Bulletin, the Dyslexia-SPELD Foundation compared PLD with other evidence-based SSP programs which facilitate high-quality Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 instruction. Professor William […]

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PLD’s unique approach scaffolds children to learn more high frequency words with less effort by teaching the right words at the right time and in the right way. Following an extensive literature review in 2020, PLD’s approach to high frequency words (HFW) was upgraded. If you would like to read more about the body of research […]

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As with any teaching resource, there are different ways sound wall displays can be introduced, displayed and utilised.  As sound walls are a fairly new instructional tool, it is important to provide information on how to use them to their full potential. Click here if you would like to read more about sound walls and SSP, […]

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This article is for educators teaching older students that require decodable reading books beyond junior primary (or students who need to develop fluency). In days gone by, decodable reading books were depreciated for having dull plots and limited vocabulary; very unappealing for older students still requiring decodable reading material.  In response, PLD sourced a range […]

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Decodable reading books are an essential component of an evidence-based SSP approach and all students, regardless of age, who are in the early stages of reading (typically PLD Stages 1 & 2) should be assigned them. Decodable reading books only contain phonic concepts and High Frequency Words (HFWs) that students have been explicitly taught. Specifically […]

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How Sound Walls Belong in PLD’s SSP Program Structured Synthetic Phonics (SSP) is at the heart of PLD’s offering.  Every resource we create is intended to scaffold, support, and extend students’ SSP knowledge and skills.  Our latest release, Sound Wall Charts, are a special resource that will bring to life the PLD teaching sequences and […]

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For students to develop strong literacy skills in the junior primary years, they need accurate and fluent vocabulary, comprehension, and oral language skills. The most effective way to teach these skills to students is through the explicit teaching method called “systematic synthetic phonics”. At the moment, the UK Phonics Check has been implemented in NSW and […]

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Research repeatedly explains that it is essential to get it right when students are first learning to read. The bleak reality is that once children start to fall behind their peers, even with special funding and programs, it is difficult for many to catch up. With this in mind, this blog is devoted to early reading. All […]

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There is currently insufficient handwriting instruction in Australian schools and children’s handwriting has become slower because they practice less.When handwriting becomes automatic, children can concentrate on what they are writing not how they are writing. A multisensory approach appears to have significant advantages in developing handwriting skills and a consistent reading and handwriting font is recommended to enhance children’s handwriting and literacy acquisition. Through establishing ideal handwriting technique, each student’s potential for academic success will be maximised.

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What are Decodable Texts? Decodable texts are specifically designed for early readers. They provide reading material which enables students to apply their alphabet sound skills, their early phonic knowledge, phonemic blending and decoding skills. The decodable reading material gradually increases in length and complexity and also gradually introduces sight words. When are Decodable Reading Books […]

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Sight words are a special high frequency category of words that students are instructed to recognise automatically. The term “sight word” can mean several different things: high frequency words, phonetically irregular words, or familiar words that require no effort to recall (orthographic lexicon or sight vocabulary). When educators refer to sight words they are usually […]

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It is common practice for daycare centres, kindergartens, and other early childhood services to introduce formal literacy concepts. The intention is an admirable one; to provide children with some early literacy skills. However, the negative side of presenting formal literacy concepts without attention to their pre-requisite skills is that it will often produce complications for […]