Training & Help
If you are new to the app, start with the short videos. If you just need to know what to click, follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Training videos
1. What is Precision Teaching?
A short introduction to the approach and why brief, repeated practice is used.
2. How to use the app
Watch this before using the app for the first time.
How to use the app — step by step
Add the pupil
Click Add pupil. Enter a pupil name or initials in line with your school’s policy. Add the year group and a short description of the skill you want to work on, then save.
Create the intervention
Select the pupil, then create an intervention. Give it a simple name and choose the skill type. Add a small set of targets the pupil has already been taught.
Choose how the pupil will respond
Select the learning channel that matches the task:
- See–Say: the pupil sees something and says the answer.
- See–Write: the pupil sees something and writes the answer.
- Hear–Say: you say the prompt and the pupil answers aloud.
- Hear–Write: you say the prompt and the pupil writes the answer.
Choose the probe length
Choose 30 seconds, 1 minute or 2 minutes. Use the same length when comparing the pupil's progress. The app converts results to a per-minute rate for the chart.
Teach and practise first
Spend a short period practising the targets with the pupil. Model the correct response, give immediate feedback and allow repeated successful practice. The aim is for responses to become quick and accurate.
Run the timed probe
Click the probe button when the pupil is ready. Start the timing and work through the targets. For each response click Correct or Error. You can also use C for correct and E for error on a keyboard.
Look at the result
When the time finishes, the result is saved automatically. Open Progress to see correct responses and errors on the chart. The app also gives a short prompt about whether to continue, adjust teaching or check whether the fluency aim has been reached.
Repeat the cycle
Between probes, teach and practise the targets again. Then complete another brief probe. Over repeated sessions you should be able to see whether correct responses are increasing and errors are reducing.
Back up the data
The pupil information is stored in the browser on the device being used. Click Export for shared monitoring (.json) regularly and save the file somewhere secure in line with your school's procedures.
If you get stuck
You do not need to work it out on your own. Email support and describe what you were trying to do and what happened.
Quick reminder
Add pupil → create intervention → teach and practise → run probe → mark correct/errors → check progress → practise again → repeat.
Use a pupil name or initials under your school’s policy and export a secure backup regularly.What to do with the progress graph
Read correct responses and errors together across several checks. Keep the targets, learning channel, timing and scoring consistent while comparing results. Note interruptions, tiredness or changes to teaching. The following numbers are invented examples, not expected rates or universal aims.
Accuracy improves, but speed stays flat
For example, correct responses remain around 18 per minute while errors fall from 6 to 1. This suggests the pupil is responding more accurately, even though fluency has not yet increased. Continue brief supported practice: model, practise together, then ask for an independent response. Revisit hesitant items and avoid pressure to rush. Check whether the task also demands difficult speech, handwriting or visual scanning.
Review whether correct responses begin to rise while errors stay low. If they do not, change one aspect of teaching and record what changed rather than simply adding more timings.
Correct responses rise, but errors rise too
For example, correct responses rise from 20 to 28 per minute, but errors rise from 1 to 7. Do not treat this as secure fluency. Check which items are confused and whether the pupil is guessing to beat the clock. Outside the timing, explicitly teach the distinction and practise accurate responses with feedback. Reduce the target set if needed; record the change and establish a new baseline for that set.
Look for fewer errors as accuracy becomes secure. Keep the activity calm, and stop if timing causes distress.
There is little change across comparable checks
Check that teaching actually took place between timings and that the pupil can give the response accurately without a timer. A pupil who cannot reliably blend the sounds in the selected words needs explicit blending teaching before repeated fluency checks on those words. Review the size and difficulty of the target set, presentation, attendance and consistency of delivery with the teacher or SENCo.
Agree one specific teaching adjustment, note it and review the pattern across subsequent checks. A flat line alone does not identify the reason for difficulty or indicate a diagnosis.
The graph improves, but classwork does not
For example, a pupil reads the practised word cards quickly but hesitates when the same words appear in a sentence. Teach and practise the words in short, meaningful sentences and ordinary reading. Check the original words in that context, then use suitable unpractised examples to explore generalisation. Do not assume improvement on a repeated set transfers automatically.
Record classroom performance separately from the timed target-card results, so different tasks are not presented as directly comparable data.
The pupil reaches the agreed aim
Check accuracy, use in ordinary lessons and whether the skill is retained after a gap before moving on. Choose the next small teaching target with the teacher. The app's prompt supports a discussion; it is not an automatic decision about mastery.
Download recording and intervention review sheets · Read about the approach and its evidence