Sarah Handscomb

In Memoriam

Sadly, Sarah died suddenly a few days after recording this talk for the Symposium. Her family wanted us to include her talk as a tribute to her work in the field of literacy instruction.

Sarah brought to the Sounds-Write team a depth of experience of teaching and implementing the programme in mainstream, special educational settings, (Foundation to Yr10) and private practice. She supported the implementation of Sounds-Write at both a mainstream and specialist facility. She coached teams of executive and school-based staff in several States, predominantly in remote areas, with a high proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, to increase teacher knowledge of Systematic Synthetic Phonics.

Sarah never failed to be amazed at the rate with which children, often those who have ‘given up’ previously, learn to take command of their language using Sounds-Write. Her dedication and kindness are an inspiration to us all, and she will be sorely missed.