During school holidays, we run intensive explicit, systematic synthetic phonics therapy groups for children in their first three years of schooling who need extra help with learning to read and spell words.

Each group runs for a week, one hour per day, with daily homework activities. We provide all the necessary resources, including specialist readers. Each speech pathologist works with no more than four children in our groups, which is the maximum research suggests for a really high-intensity group session, if children are well-matched, and all attend and do their homework.

The groups run at a fast pace with a mix of activities, and include plenty of games and fun. All groups are held at our North Fitzroy office, with attendance by appointment only. Spaces are limited. Upfront payment for all group sessions by Monday 25 March is required to secure a child’s place.  The cost of the week’s program covers all sessions, materials and planning time, plus a brief final report with recommendations. Missed sessions are non-refundable.

Children not already known to us need to attend an assessment session with us before joining a group. This allows us to check that group attendance would suit them, ensures we place them in the right group, and helps us cater for special needs/interests. If we don’t have a group matching a child’s skills and needs, we can usually suggest other intervention options.

In the April 2024 school holidays, our intensive therapy groups will be:

WeekTimeSkill levelExample words targeted
Mon 8th to Friday 12th April8.45am to 9.45amBeginners: VC and CVC words.at, in, hop, bus, red, fan, big.
Mon 8th to Friday 12th April9.00am to 10.00am“long” vowels and a few suffixes.shade-shady, athlete, athletic, time, timer, hope, hoping, cute, cutest.
Mon 8th to Friday 12th April10.15am to 11.45amAdjacent consonants: CVCC, CCVC, CCVCC, CCCVC, CVCCC.help, list, trap, stop, crust, strip, jumps.
Mon 8th to Friday 12th April1:45pm to 2.45pmConsonant digraphs.wish, chat, fetch, this, when, quick, sing.

Please contact Tiana on admin@spelfabet.com.au or (03) 8528 0138 or text 0434 902 249 if you’d like to find out more about these groups, or book an assessment session for a struggling reader/speller in their first three years of schooling to see if one of these groups would suit them.