Workplace Testimonials
PILBARA IRON (RIO TINTO)
Tom Price, Western Australia
Eric Rives
Indigenous Trainer / Mentor
Contracted by: Pilbara Iron
I presented The Sound Way program to 25 indigenous Australians on behalf of Pilbara Iron (Rio Tinto) at Tom Price in the northwest of Western Australia. Participants ages ranged from 16 years to 54 years. You can see below that I have completed the final scoring as requested.
I would like to mention that this program has been a great pleasure to present in itself; not to mention the satisfaction one gets from not only helping others, but also seeing them progress so quickly. Several of the students have commented on how easy the classes have been to learn and wished it had been available to them earlier in their lives. Many have said they would like it to be available to their families.
One can easily see from the Score Sheet below, the success of this class. Some students improved up to 5 years in their reading ability in just six weeks. The average overall student improvement was 3.5 years in six weeks.
ERIC'S GRAPH
The Sound Way program has given them self-esteem, pride, motivation, courage, and the confidence to seek employment. They have also commented on how nice it is for them to be able to do simple things that you and I may take for granted, such as being able to read the news paper, or read notes or flyers sent home with their children from school.
As you can see in the Score Sheet above, there were only a few students that didn’t finish the course for varying reasons, and some that scored much higher than others. I feel this was due to the level of effort they themselves put in. I strongly believe that the class was a huge overall success.
Yours faithfully,
Eric Rives
See article as reported in Rio Tinto magazine:
http://www.ciwa.riotinto.com/stories/an-educated-choice.aspx
TIWI ISLANDS TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT BOARD
To whom it may concern,
I am writing this letter to anyone who may be in a position to help give our kids a real chance to succeed in life. I have been a teacher, Principal and Vocational Education Trainer for 20 years, working with indigenous students from around the Northern Territory and the Tiwi Islands in particular.
At Nguiu on the Tiwi Islands, we have almost exclusively based our educational curriculum on the whole language concept for the past 20 years with devastating results. For twenty years we have been delivering 80% illiterate students into the Tiwi work force which has resulted in high levels of unemployment in an economic climate where there are real employment opportunities.
This surely can not be acceptable or possible in the year 2007. Yet it remains so.
Teaching people to read and write is not brain surgery. It is possible and it is achievable in a relatively short space of time. The Sound Way program is THE answer.
As co-principal of Xavier Community Education Centre in 2003 we implemented The Sound Way program. Within three months we had 15 year old students who were unable to literally spell ‘cat' able to read and write at a higher level than ever thought possible. We had students who could read only 20 out of 200 words all of a sudden able to read 150 words.
The pride, the self esteem and the willingness to start to explore career options were all born from the knowledge that they really can learn to read.
Make no mistake The Sound Way is THE answer. All we need is the people in positions of responsibility to take it on board, have a look at what it can do and get it into the schools.
It is as clear to me as the day is long that this is the program that can and will change the face of indigenous education and communities Australia wide.
Please don't muck around any longer. No more arguing about the merits of Whole Language and phonics. Too many lives have literally already been lost . There are real opportunities in many indigenous communities and The Sound Way WILL give indigenous people the tools, the confidence and the power to access these opportunities.
Yours sincerely,
Brian Clancy
Manager,
Tiwi Islands Training and Employment Board,
Nguiu, Bathurst Island,
NT 0822