Jolly Futures News

Read our latest news updates on Jolly Futures projects around the world.

First Pan African Synthetic Phonics Summit Success

2024-09-05

Many of our Delivery Partners came together to draw upon their collective learning and expertise from Africa’s largest literacy programme, Jolly Phonics. The event explored how systematic synthetic phonics can be used as a tool, both in English and the African languages, to transform Africa's reading crisis.

Over 100 delegates from 14 African countries came together in Cape Town on the 28th and 29th of August 2024. The event was vibrant, enagaging, relevant and the first of it's kind in Africa.

Speakers in various stages of implementation of Jolly Phonics shared their stories, challenges, lessons learned and ways forward. The final day ended with pledges made for the future.

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Jolly Phonics Is Transforming Education in Assam

2024-02-29

The rollout in Assam started in August 2023 where in the first phase, 400 teachers were trained to teach Jolly Phonics to Grade 1 children. With the support of Samagra Sikhsha, Assam, Jolly Phonics Training was organised over a four-day period. The focus was on equipping grade 1 teachers with effective literacy teaching strategies and enhancing their understanding of the language curriculum. The second phase of training was conducted in January 2024 where the teachers were shown how to progress to the second stage of the programme. Manas Saikia Foundation recognised the importance of high quality teacher training and funded training workshops conducted by a team of certified Jolly Phonics trainers- Komal Goenka, Shweta Modi, Dipti Shah and Daksha Suryavanshi.

After the 400 teachers completed their training, they became ambassadors of the Jolly Phonics methodology, ready to impart their knowledge to the children . The classrooms transformed into vibrant spaces where learning became an exciting adventure. Teachers report that Grade 1 children in Guwahati are now able to read 3 and 4 letter words confidently and these children have fallen in love with English.

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Jolly Phonics Rollout in Tamil Nadu State!

2023-12-18

Dr. S.V. Gomathi and her dedicated team of trainers have been facilitating training for teachers in Tamil Nadu State in the Jolly Phonics programme, all in a bid to provide effective and engaging English language education to children. The training of teachers, along with the teaching and learning resources that have supported implementation of the programme has had significant benefits for both students and educators, in developing and improving student’s ability to read and write in English. Following several successful pilot studies and rollouts in 13 districts, there has been overwhelming and growing interest in the Jolly Phonics programme leading to Jolly Phonics being rolled out to all districts in all the districts of Tamil Nadu! The comprehensive training included a team of 45 professional Jolly Phonics trainers, who collectively trained over 22,000 teachers from 25 districts. The training focused on providing relevant, hands-on learning experiences for educators, allowing them to incorporate the new methodologies and techniques almost immediately into their lessons. It was well attended, with 100% of expected teachers showing up, and actively participating in the lessons, despite some of the training being conducted on weekends. The participants expressed appreciation for the training, the vibrant and visually appealing materials such as Big Books and posters, which they felt would help students grasp and retain the English language skills being taught. The training team equally delivered engaging and informative session, maintaining full energy and a positive attitude, which reflected their professionalism and passion for their work. Since the training, Dr. S. V. Gomathi has conducted several field visits to establish the impact of the programme particularly in the interior villages and hill areas. It was found that children in these areas were able to blend words using letter sounds, which elated parents due to their children’s newfound ability to read in English. This highlights the real success of the programme and positive reception in the community.

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Jolly Phonics District Roll-outs in Maharashtra State, India

2023-09-04

Ms Neeti Nagarkar and her team of trainers have been engaged in Jolly Phonics district rollouts in Gadchiroli and Jalgaon of Maharashtra, India. They have been training teachers in the multi-sensory approach to teaching English, specifically Jolly Phonics, and yielding great results. After the successful roll-out of the programme in Akola District in the last academic year, the CEO of Akola, Saurabh Katiyar recommended the project for Gadchiroli and Jalgaon Districts. The training team delivered the first part of training in the months of June and July, 2023. This has impacted 2889 teachers from Gadchiroli and 3128 teachers from Jalgaon. The teachers have embraced the method and are enjoying implementing it in their classrooms.

A total of 54,381 students have benefitted from this programme with 14,253 students in Gadchiroli and 40,218 students in Jalgaon. The engagement through WhatsApp groups and the sharing of teaching videos have shown the dedication and enthusiasm of the teachers, as well as the positive response from the children already. It is truly heartening to know that children are already making progress, reading words, formed from Group 1 letter sounds, in just three weeks of starting the programme.

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