A new microcredential course is now available to help primary and secondary teachers upskill in systematic synthetic phonics.
Through the new course, teachers can increase their confidence to teach phonics in a systematic and explicit way using contemporary, evidence-based practices. The course explores instructional strategies to support student learning and embed systematic synthetic phonics teaching into daily practice, including with diverse cohorts of students. Evidence shows progress in reading is most likely to occur with explicit teaching of phonics, especially for children at the greatest risk of reading difficulties.
This is the third free course for teachers funded by the Australian Government, adding to the release of an Explicit Teaching microcredential and a Classroom Management microcredential in 2024. Each online course is available to teachers and other school-based educators until the end of June 2026.
The courses, developed by the University of Adelaide, are part of the investment in the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan, complementing the Government’s Engaged Classrooms initiative to develop free classroom management resources for teachers. The Australian Government is investing more than $3 million in funding to the University of Adelaide to design and deliver the courses.
All microcredential courses align with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and are designed to be recognised by Teacher Registration Boards.
Registrations for the microcredential courses are now open and educators can register interest on the University of Adelaide website: Teaching Phonics | PACE | University of Adelaide
More information
Read Minister Clare’s media release: Free short course for teaching phonics in the classroom | Ministers' Media Centre