Absa and THRASS Media Release

24 September 2007

VARSITY COLLEGE SET TO JOIN THRASS ABSA TALKTOGETHER LITERACY PROJECT

The THRASS Absa TalkTogether Literacy Project has gathered significant
momentum since its launch just over a year ago and now Varsity College,
which is a licensed tuition provider of the University of South Africa
(UNISA), is set to join the Project from January 2009. UNISA is the largest
provider of student teachers in South Africa.

Varsity College is a trading division of the Independent Institute of
Education (IIE), currently the highest accredited private Higher Education
Tertiary Institution in South Africa. The College has eight campuses and
its involvement with the TalkTogether Project will start with students at
Durban North, Pietermaritzburg and Westville in KwaZulu-Natal.

From January 2009, third year Batchelor of Education (BEd) students will be
offered a two-day accredited THRASS training programme to prepare them more
fully for teaching literacy in schools. This will be followed by a one-day
observational visit to a TalkTogether Project School and, where possible, a
placement in a school implementing the THRASS literacy programme for their
compulsory UNISA teaching practice experience. THRASS training will later
be extended to students at other Varsity College campuses.

Colleen Thatcher, the National Programme Manager of the BEd Degree at
Varsity College, is delighted with this latest development: "We are very
grateful to colleagues at THRASS UK and Absa for inviting Varsity College
to be a part of this exciting venture in education. Our students are
thrilled to be given the opportunity to become part of the THRASS Absa
literacy project and to make a major impact on language education in South
Africa."

The THRASS Absa TalkTogether Project is a unique educational partnership
between THRASS UK and Absa Bank, a member of the Barclays Group, that aims
to revolutionise the teaching and learning of language in South Africa
through partnerships between primary schools, universities and other
organizations. The Project uses the THRASS (Teaching Handwriting Reading
And Spelling Skills) phonics programme, pioneered by British Educational
Psychologist Alan Davies, to target foundation level learners and their
teachers, so that learners develop sound literacy skills from an early age.
THRASS is widely accepted as providing a revolutionary approach to teaching
English and as having the potential to more than double the normal rate of
progress for reading and spelling in English. The TalkTogether Project also
aims to provide a platform to celebrate South Africa's eleven national
languages through FREE interactive and printable calendar charts.

The TalkTogether Project has gathered significant momentum in the year
since it was launched and there are now five TalkTogether schools and
their partner universities involved: Roseneath Primary School and the
University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, Sunlands Primary School
and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town, Eendracht
Primary School and the University of Pretoria, George Randell Primary
School and the University of Fort Hare, and Clairwood Boys Preparatory
School and the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

In addition, the TalkTogether Project is also introducing the THRASS
programme to hundreds of other government schools in 2008 through the
recently launched THRASS SING-A-LONG Family Reading Resources that use 44
songs that parents and others can sing with children to explain the 44
sounds (phonemes) and 120 main spelling choices (graphemes) of English.

THRASS is used by teachers, parents, educational psychologists and speech
and language therapists in thousands of schools in Africa, the UK, Europe
and the Caribbean. To date, over 5,000 teachers and student teachers in
South Africa have earned the THRASS Accredited Certificate, with over 700
having been sponsored by the THRASS Absa TalkTogether Project.

The THRASS Accredited Certificate is already a compulsory module for
Foundation Phase student teachers at five South African universities,
namely, Witwatersrand, Pretoria, Cape Peninsular University of Technology,
Fort Hare and KwaZulu-Natal. THRASS UK is also looking to work with teacher
training colleges in Namibia, where the Government is rolling out its
programme to introduce THRASS in all schools.

In South Africa, THRASS has been implemented at a significant number of
government schools, including farm schools in the Kwena Basin, Mpumalanga
and township schools in Orange Farm, Johannesburg, as well as at private
independent schools in several provinces, including the largest private
schools chain, Crawford Schools, which is also part of IIE and hosts many
Varsity College students during their teaching practice experience year.

THRASS and Absa are hopeful that a member of staff from UNISA will be a key
speaker at the 2009 TalkTogether Conference to be held at the University of
Pretoria at the end of January 2009.

The THRASS extensive picture-based training website for schools and parents
with access to a wide range of resources and support materials, and
extensive evidence of the widespread success of THRASS and details of
THRASS Professional Development Courses is at www.thrass.co.uk/teaching.htm

For more information about the THRASS Absa TalkTogether Project, visit
www.talktogether.co.zaand www.thrass.co.uk/talktogether.htm

For more information about Varsity College and its Batchelor of Education
Degree, visit www.varsitycollege.co.za

The THRASS multi-lingual calendar charts and Phoneme Machine software can
be downloaded free-of-charge from links on both the Absa TalkTogether
Project and THRASS UK websites www.talktogether.co.za and
www.thrass.co.uk/sing-a-long.htm

For information about the THRASS SING-A-LONG Family Reading Project, visit
www.thrass.co.uk/sing-a-long.htm

For more information about the TalkTogether Project, the free materials and
the TalkTogether Schools, South Africans can SMS their names to 32828
(R1.00 per sms), e-mail info@talktogether.co.za or write to the Absa
Foundation, P.O. Box 7735, Johannesburg 2000.

http://www.thrass.co.uk/absa_reactions.htm