AUT25-33 Teaching Literacy to Learners with Complex Needs Webinar Series

Dates:   Monday 17th & 24th November, 1st & 8th December 2025
Time:     7 - 8 pm
Venue:  Online via Zoom
Cost:     €5.00 for series (webinar recordings included)

Target Audience: Teachers and SNAs in special schools and resourced provisions (all pupil ages) and Teachers and SNAs in mainstream schools who are working with a learner with complex needs (Infants, First and Second Class)

WEBINAR 1: Monday 17th November 2025
What do we teach? How do we approach teaching literacy to learners with complex needs?

• Myths surrounding learners with complex needs and the impact on literacy instruction
• Taking an evidence-led approach
• What structured literacy should look like for these learners – matching needs to provision

WEBINAR 2: Monday 24th November 2025
Strategies to enable access to phonics for learners who are non-speaking, have fine motor skill difficulties and have both barriers to learning.

• Practical session discussing equipment, strategies and resources to enable access to the curriculum with a particular focus on literacy.

WEBINAR 3: Monday 1st December 2025
Teaching the key skills of blending and segmenting to learners with complex needs.

• Practical approach and strategies
• Reducing cognitive load
• Graduated approach
• Scaffolding teaching and support

WEBINAR 4: Monday 8th December 2025
How do we teach literacy to learners with the most complex profile of needs?

• What should pre-phonics look like for learners with the most complex needs?
• How can we incorporate it into a pre-formal sensory curriculum.

Bio of Presenter: Ann Sullivan

Ann Sullivan has over 30 years experience in mainstream and specialist education, as a primary class teacher, secondary learning support teacher, SENCO, outreach advisory teacher and Specialist Leader in Education SLE. She has written several books on teaching reading, including a book for parents and a book for teachers of children with complex needs. She is the author of the Phonics for Pupils with Special Educational Needs programme and the Pathway to Phonics programme and is now an educational consultant and trainer.