Sim the Speechie

30/06/2025

After six months of being in the classroom as a teacher, I have a whole new appreciation for just how much teachers juggle, every single day.

As a speech pathologist, I always aimed to support students and teachers in practical ways. But being on the other side of the fence has shifted my perspective. Teachers are managing learning goals, social dynamics, behaviour, differentiation, admin tasks, and a hundred little things you don’t see unless you’re there in the room.

What I’ve learned is this: if I want to support a student well, I also need to support their teacher in a way that’s simple, respectful of their time, and truly classroom-friendly.

That means:

✅ Clear, concise strategies
✅ Recommendations that fit into real classroom routines
✅ Being available to problem-solve as part of the team

Working in both roles has deepened my belief that collaboration is everything—and that when we make things easier for teachers, we make things better for kids.

If you’re a teacher or a therapist, I’d love to know: what have you learned from working with each other?

12/05/2025

I'm excited to share that some of my lovely clients have recently graduated from therapy after making fantastic progress in their literacy skills - they've now caught up with their peers and are doing well at school.

This means I now have openings for new primary and secondary school-aged students, who are experiencing difficulties with reading, writing, spelling, or comprehension.

If your child is struggling with literacy or you're a teacher concerned about a student who is behind, I'd love to help. Early support can make a world of difference!

Call now to connect with business.

05/02/2025

The new school year has started and, as a teacher, I am in the middle of planning my lessons for term 1.

First up is handwriting. I have been listening to podcasts around effective teaching practices for handwriting. Evident is the need for explicit instruction around the development of the related motor skills in young children and the significant positive influence the development of handwriting has on reading and writing.

Although I knew handwriting was important, I hadn’t realised how important it was and the need for it to be taught explicitly in stand-alone lessons first, and then in general writing activities.

As a speech pathologist, I now include this as an activity when I am teaching my clients their early literacy skills.

Here is a podcast I listened to. Listen along and share your thoughts below!

Podcast Episode · Glean's Research to Practice Podcast · 22/03/2020 · 36m

23/11/2024

It’s been a while since the last post. Life has been hectic but now things have settled down. I’m so excited to announce that I have completed my Master of Teaching (Primary) and have a job lined up next year as a year 1 teacher part time (1 day a week).

I will be continuing to see clients as a speech pathologist during the rest of the week.

By working both as a speech pathologist and a teacher I hope to provide the best service for your primary school aged child with a literacy delay.

Here’s to new adventures in teaching! ☺️

20/11/2022

I’ve been listening to these podcasts about literacy programs and I think they are a must for teachers and parents who are interested in knowing about children’s literacy development in Australian schools.

Highly recommended!

‎Society & Culture · 2022

07/07/2022

This year I’m learning about the history of words to help my clients with spelling.

https://tinyurl.com/45pkhwra

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/making-sense-of-spelling-gina-cookeWhat can spelling tell us about relationships between words? While spelling ma...

13/05/2022

There is strong evidence for repeated reading as a strategy to increase reading accuracy and fluency, especially for kids who have specific reading difficulties.

https://www.teachingbyscience.com/repeated-reading

12/05/2022

Hallelujah! 😄

“Reference to balanced literacy techniques, including the “three-cueing system” and the use of “predictable texts” that encourage children to guess words when learning to read, have been cut from the foundation stage curriculum, in confirmation the Australian Curriculum and Assessment Authority has jettisoned balanced literacy techniques for the explicit use of phonics”.

Australia’s curriculum has been stripped of 20 per cent of its content, including the removal of teaching strategies that play down the use of phonics.

18/04/2022

For teachers:

What’s wrong with predictable texts and what can you do about it?

https://righttoreadproject.com/2021/06/19/what-do-i-do-with-all-these-predictable-books/?fbclid=IwAR0BtoFlF92kk5FNh7AStR9v5hHH_E9VZ4ypfGR29OGGdusZlEB25TJiCMo

Many teachers have already reorganized our leveled libraries because we learned that, according to Fountas and Pinnell, “levels have no place in classroom libraries.” Sorting books into bins labele…

17/04/2022

“If only people knew what a spectrum is… because they are talking about autism all wrong”.

https://neuroclastic.com/its-a-spectrum-doesnt-mean-what-you-think/?fbclid=IwAR0yr3CKY4WkLKAjc2ceoIj1e1jLReJbyuokpM6fllgW6Sgy4tg8gyKyyNU&

What you believe the “autism spectrum” means is not what it actually means. It’s more like…

07/04/2022

Social context is king when it comes to understanding and using vocabulary.

06/02/2022

The new year has started on a slow note with some of my clients doing online classes and not coming in to speech therapy. Here’s hoping things will be less dramatic this year. 🤞🏼