Jolly Phonics Materials and Teacher Training

With the publishers of Jolly Phonics as our main donor, we are in a priviledged position to be able to offer governments in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia extensive free Jolly Phonics materials and licences to print the materials, and/or free high-quality teacher training for all of their Grade 1 classes across the country. However, governments must be willing to fully commit to Jolly Futures as a long-term programme for improving literacy in their schools, and be ready to find funding for costs beyond these donations. Find out more below.

Our offer has 3 phases:

1Pilot Phase

The pilot phase involves evaluating the impact of Jolly Phonics in 6 government schools.

Grade 1 teachers in these schools are provided with training by professional Jolly Phonics trainers, as well as free teaching and learning materials.

The English literacy skills of pupils in these classes are assessed at the start and end of the pilot period and their results are compared with matched non-Jolly Phonics pupils.

The evaluation is usually conducted in partnership with a local academic institution.

Free Materials

We offer free materials and training for 6 schools

  • A free Pupil Book 1 and 2 for every Grade 1 pupil in the 6 pilot classes.
  • A free set of Jolly Phonics teaching materials for the 6 Grade 1 pilot teachers, including a Teachers Book, Letter Sounds Poster Set, Tricky Words Poster Set, Big Books Set.
  • A professional Jolly Phonics Trainer to deliver 3 days of training for the 6 Grade 1 pilot teachers and their head teachers.
  • Free access to Jolly Monitor for assessors and monitors.
  • Ongoing support to teachers throughout the school year.
  • Training and guidance to assessors on how to conduct a reliable and unbiased evaluation and, where needed, actually take part in the evaluation process & support with report writing.

Government is responsible for:

  • Selecting assessors to evaluate the impact of Jolly Phonics.
  • Selecting intervention and control schools and informing them about different activities.
  • Paying the training costs not covered by Jolly Futures, such as transport and lunch costs for trainees.
  • Covering any costs associated with the pupil assessments and report writing*.
  • Instructing government officials to monitor and mentor Jolly phonics teachers throughout the pilot year.
  • Arranging a stakeholders meeting at the end of the pilot for the report to be presented

*If government is unable to access funds to cover evaluation costs, it may be possible to find other solutions so that the evaluation can still take place. Please inform Jolly Futures if this is the case, so that the options can be discussed.

2Rollout Phase

The rollout phase involves spreading Jolly Phonics to all schools in a country, region or local government area. If there are a large number of schools and teachers to reach, this may be staged over a number of years.

During this phase, all Grade 1 teachers in all government schools are provided with training by professional Jolly Phonics trainers, as well as Jolly Phonics teaching and learning materials.

Following the training, government should ensure that teachers are provided with ongoing support, and that the impact of the project is evaluated. Jolly Futures implementing partners can support government with these activities.

Free Materials

Government is responsible for:

  • Providing accurate figures for numbers of schools, teachers and pupils, as well as delivery addresses, so that the free materials can be ordered and delivered.
  • Supporting with the distribution of materials.
  • Working closely with our implementing partner to plan for and successfully implement the teacher training events.
  • Paying the training costs not covered by Jolly Futures, such as transport and lunch costs for trainees, and providing suitable training venues.
  • Ensuring that the use of Jolly Phonics in schools is monitored and teachers are provided with follow-up support.
  • Ensuring that Jolly Phonics is integrated into the education system, such as through including it on school timetables and in government education policies, etc.
  • With very large rollouts, with over 1,000 teachers, governments may be asked to pay either for the materials printing and distribution costs, or for the full costs of the visiting trainers.

At this phase we can offer free materials and licences to print materials, and/or we will contribute to the training for all schools (up to $400K value*)

*Estimated value per 1,000 teachers.

Our Delivery Partners can also offer, at an additional cost to the government

  • Training and tools for government officials to ensure that they can effectively monitor and support the implementation of Jolly Phonics in schools, and ongoing mentoring for officials following the training.
  • Access to the Jolly Monitor App for all assessors and monitors, including school-level monitors, and the Jolly Monitor Dashboard for central managers and decision-makers.
  • Ongoing support to teachers throughout the school year, through our team conducting school monitoring visits, coordinating teacher cluster support meetings, providing remote support in WhatsApp groups and Batch SMS, and more.
  • Refresher training for teachers, and training for teachers in other grades.
  • Other technical support and activities that will help to ensure the effective and sustained implementation of Jolly Phonics in schools.

3Sustainability Phase

After Jolly Phonics has been rolled out to all schools, it is important that its implementation and impact is sustained.

Pupil Books

Amongst other things, this will involve the printing of Jolly Phonics Pupil Books for new cohorts of Grade 1 learners, continued monitoring and support for Grade 1 teachers, and training for any new Grade 1 teachers.

We offer a free printing licence for the Pupil Books ($ 17K value*)

*Estimated value per 50,000 pupils.

It includes a free licence to continue printing Pupil Books 1 and 2 for new cohorts of Grade 1 learners.

Our Delivery Partners can also offer ongoing support to sustain and enhance the impact of Jolly Phonics in schools. This will be at an additional cost to the government.

Government is responsible for:

  • Printing and distributing Jolly Phonics Pupil Books for new cohorts of pupils.
  • Ensuring that monitoring and support for teachers concerning their use of Jolly Phonics is continued.
  • Ensuring that any new Grade 1 teachers are provided with training and materials.
  • Any other activities that will ensure the sustained implementation of Jolly Phonics in schools.