Articles on: Online Courses

Misconception: The staff in the school need to complete all online courses. But what does PLD recommend?

PLD does not recommend that educators complete all courses. Over time this may occur, but the courses are designed to get classrooms up and running with their implementation.**
Which course is most appropriate for staff to view? This form is useful when deciding which courses are relevant to the staff.

Why does PLD not recommend the completion of all courses?
In our experience of working with thousands of teachers/schools, this is too much information. Higher uptake and results occur with providing the information relevant to the year levels teachers are working in.
The courses are aimed at getting PLD up and running in a school as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Over time (as staff are directed to other year levels) additional training can be allocated. That is the wonderful thing about online courses, people can register and commence a course, within minutes.

Do school leaders need to complete all online courses?
No. The courses are designed to outline for teachers the explicit teaching, screening and reporting on skill development that is required when implementing PLD.
School Leaders can rely on the Term Tip summary clips. https://pld-literacy.org/teaching-tips-for-term-3/ These clips will summarise for school leaders the expectations for each year level.
School leaders also have the opportunity to schedule 30-minute free consultations each term to ask questions and also receive feedback on the tracking sheets.
Many schools have a literacy committee, with ECE, junior, middle and upper primary cluster coordinators. In this way, the school leaders will only be required to complete their focus course.
Once up and running, coaching opportunities are available through the website:


Training specialist teaching staff (e.g. PE, library, art etc)
These staff members may be directed to view the courses as a group. If this is the case, the school will need to issue the certificate, as it is a group viewing.

Overlap built into courses:
The Synthetic Phonics in the Junior Primary covers PLD's Stages 1,2 and 3.
Synthetic Phonics and Beyond covers PLD's Stages 1, 2, 3 4, 5 & 6.
Rarely do educators need to cover both. Teacher Assistants working in the Middle and Upper Primary are typically working with students at Stage 1, 2 and 3 levels, hence preventing the need for the completion of both courses.
Videos 3 & 4 in the Early Years course, link across to the Foundation Term 1 video.

Updated on: 19/07/2023

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