About Us

Andrell Education

With over 40 years experience between them, Andrell would like to introduce consultants and head of Andrell Education Australasia; Samantha Taylor and Wendy Allder. Sammy and Wendy are determined to share their excitement, passion and success of Big Write and VCOP.

Having both adapted, then used the Big Write and VCOP program successfully in their classrooms, they can offer other teachers the most accurate and effective advice, feedback and support.

Sammy and Wendy have attended conferences and training in the UK with both Ros and her colleagues on all the Andrell programs.

Initially, they spent the best part of a year working closely with Ros to adapt the Criterion Scale to be used directly in line with the Australian National Curriculum and set up their classrooms to implement the approach. They are excited to provide training to allow other VCOP classrooms and schools to be created all over Australasia.

Samantha Taylor

Sammy is the proud owner of Andrell Education and is dedicated to training up as many educators as possible on the Big Write and VCOP approach to raise Australia’s literacy standards.

For the past 12 years, Sammy has presented both nationally and internationally for Andrell Education whilst raising her own VCOP Gang, known on YouTube as the VCOP Kids. While her passions lies in the junior school, she has worked with pre-school students, right through to adult learners.

In 2010 Sammy spent the year teaching in London, dedicated to teaching in as many different schools and settings as possible. It was in London that she was introduced to Big Write and VCOP.

Upon her return to Australia, she became even more dedicated to raising standards when presented with a cohort of students significantly low. Of the 100 students, 58% did not reach the minimum expectation for writing upon entering grade 3. As writing was a concern for their cohort of students, Sammy suggested Big Write and VCOP to her team. The results were almost immediate and even better, it was the most fun she’d ever had teaching writing.

For more information on raising standards in writing through oral language, contact Sammy at [email protected]

Facebook: Facebook.com/AndrellEducation
Instagram: @bigwrite_vcop
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-taylor-vcop

Wendy Allder

Born in country Victoria, Wendy dreamed of becoming a teacher. In 1976 she completed training at both Frankston Teachers College and Latrobe University.

She began her teaching career at Pearcedale P.S. in 1977, and apart from 9 years when she had her three children, she has taught continuously ever since. She has taught all year levels, as well as a brief spell in the Library, and time as a shared Art specialist in 4 rural schools. For 2 years Wendy combined consulting for Andrell Education and teaching part time.

With the demand for Big Write and VCOP rapidly increasing, she has retired to become a full time consultant, both nationally and internationally. She continues to share her passion for the program that achieves such improved outcomes for so many. Wendy intends to remain active in spending hands on time in the classroom, developing activities and tracking the progress of children in their writing journey.

Annie Mackenzie

Annie grew up at Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula. She attended Frankston Teachers College and has taught in Primary Schools for 30 plus years.

As well as teaching all Grade levels and having positions in Art, ICT and Integration, Annie has spent the last 13 years as a Leading Teacher overseeing curriculum and assessment across a school of 600 plus students. She has always had a passion for curriculum and assessment and has worked with the whole staff to develop ‘Essential Curriculum’ in Writing, Reading and Number, as well as develop ‘Whole School Assessment Schedules’.

Annie has taught VCOP in the classroom and also in ‘Writing Intervention’ sessions in Year 4. Having been involved in many curriculum programs and curriculum development, she is a great advocate for the VCOP and Big Write methodology, as well as the summative and formative assessment documents that the program provides for both students and teachers.

Chris Slater

Chris grew up in Geelong, trained in Ballarat, taught in metro Melbourne, and then moved to the Mornington Peninsula where he has been ever since.

His experience covers a variety of settings from: Leadership, Curriculum Development, Classroom Teaching, Art/Craft Specialist, and now to writing and performing ceremonies for couples when they marry. “Having ex-students still contact you to catch up and share their life journey is the icing on the cake for me. A bit like VCOP being the icing on the cake with writing.”

Making a difference in children’s lives. It’s not just about teaching children skills. It’s about making them feel connected to their learning, feeling valued as an individual, and being supported in this process. This was the difference Chris always wanted to make with his teaching. For years Chris struggled to find a better, more effective approach to writing. It wasn’t until the Big Write & VCOP program came along that he discovered a very simple, fundamental methodology that truly reignites teachers. It inspires students and gives writers a framework and direction for communicating through written and spoken words.

VCOP Ambassadors

Have you heard of VCOP Ambassadors? VCOP Ambassadors is a new initiative to celebrate excellence in education and training using the Big Write and VCOP approach. We would like to celebrate and welcome our newest ambassadors below.

Shalini Devi Ramanathan

Shalini is the founder and director of Phonics Power which is a leading institute in India that runs various programmes on Early Literacy and English language development courses. As a passionate teacher, she has also adorned the role of an educational consultant and a teacher trainer since 2012.
Shalini, an accredited trainer for Jolly Learning — UK and Oxford University press — India is now actively involved in training teachers and has trained nearly 7500 teachers from 340+ private schools and teacher training institutes. She also serves as an academic consultant and curriculum planner in many of these schools and takes great pride in helping these schools move from rote learning to Synthetic Phonics methodology.
Her expertise includes training in various literacy skills such as phonics, grammar, creative writing, comprehension, reading & spelling intervention for primary students and spoken English. She creates language lessons for secondary students which are fun and engaging based on story books, short films, feature length films & ads.
Her quest for providing an effective, simple, step by step, fun-filled writing programme led her to join hands with Jigna Dharod to create an extensive frame work for ‘ creative writing ’ in alignment with Big write and VCOP methodology. Together, they are working hard to bring a major change in approach towards writing in Indian schools through their Big write and VCOP inspired creative writing workshops for students and teachers.

Jigna Dharod

Chief Trainer and Director of Phonics Kingdom, Jigna Dharod is an Official Certified Trainer with Jolly Learning UK and IIPE Canada for Experiential Learning. Her experience spans to over 28 years training children and teachers in the field of Early Child Education, Jolly Phonics, Jolly Grammar, English, Creative Writing, Handwriting Improvement and Graphology. She consults and creates curriculum for many reputed schools in India. Being an avid learner she has been constantly enhancing her skills with various programs like Phonics International, Fitzroy Phonics, Music and Movement, Emotional Intelligence, Brain Gym, Remedial Education, UDL (using drama for learning), Double Doodles, Hooking up from Head to Tail, Story Telling being a few of them.
She runs ‘Phonics Club’, which currently caters to more than 1000+ students every year from her 9 centers and has also trained over 10000+ Teachers across the globe.
During her stint as a teacher and trainer, she realised that a strong foundation course in writing is essential, VCOP and Big Write came as a perfect solution as it will help students to boost their confidence giving them a clear framework and right direction for strong Language skills. She aims to take this wonderful program and spread it a larger audience.

Erin Donaldson -

Erin is a primary school teacher from Victoria who has immersed herself in all things Big Write and VCOP since 2013. She has experience in Years 1-6 and currently leading the senior school team in a small school in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. Creating engaging and low-prep activities for her students and immersing herself in digital technology is one of Erin’s greatest passions. She is leading the way with her interactive Boom Cards, scavenger hunts and many other resources. Believing in ‘life-long learning’, Erin is venturing into the online resource market and sharing her knowledge with teachers from all around the world. Be sure to follow her on socials as she grows her business. Links: www.mrsdonaldsonprimaryresources.com https://www.pinterest.com.au/MrsDonaldsonPrimaryResources/ https://www.instagram.com/mrsdonaldsonprimaryresources/ https://www.facebook.com/mrsdonaldsonprimaryresources