ALPACA – spotting literacy challenges earlier

ALPACA is a game-based literacy screening tool for Junior and Senior Kindergarten classes (age 4-6) that identifies problems 2-3 years in advance of current practices. It highlights likely issues before children start to struggle, meaning they don't have to fail before problems are identified, something that can have a much wider impact on a child's overall development and can even impact adult development as we know.

Our positioning with Assistive Technologies and disability education has always been focused on Neurodiversity and developmental disabilities, and primarily in the post-secondary and employment spaces, working across all stakeholders with a variety of services and solutions. However, some things just galvanize you into action, and that’s what happened when we saw ALPACA and talked to the team there. So we are exceptionally pleased to announce the new working relationship with the ALPACA team in Ireland, and look forward to helping influence the early childhood literacy landscape here in Canada in the same way that is now happening in Ireland and other adopting countries.

Distinctability will be working here in Canada to establish a free school year pilot in 60-100 schools across the Provinces to the obvious benefit of all those participating schools,  to feedback and help with any refinements to ALPACA for easier strategic adoption in Canada, and to start building valid data here.  

WE ARE NOW enrolling schools wanting to participate in this NATIONAL PILOT 

in preparation for the first assessments in late September 2024.

Simply put, ALPACA is an innovative game-based screening tool (aimed at all Kindergarten children aged 4-6), which gives early years teachers and other professionals an effective and efficient way to catch potential literacy challenges at the onset of phonic awareness.

Each game-based assessment takes a child around 20 minutes to complete and is undertaken on tablets or hand-held devices at key points in each of the 3 terms. (Oh and the children love the games!)

The graphic class and individual reports (see a sample below) then inform evidence-based resourcing decisions and potential opportunities for intervention, better supporting the progression of the child's emergent literacy skills over the school year resources – all at a much earlier stage than current practices do.

                            “ALPACA MAKES THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE – EARLY!”

To find out more about ALPACA and to receive a 2 minute overview video just use this simple contact form and we’ll arrange it.

We are also organizing a series of school and teacher Zoom sessions for all the schools who want to know more and who may want to participate in the September – May 2024/25 free school pilot. This unique opportunity offered at NO COST will greatly benefit you as teachers and your classes, and your feedback will also help us identify any refinements that might be necessary for wider Canada educational adoption. 

Every involved school will have free licenses for all their infants for the 3 assessment points over the year, (late September - early October (lasting 20-25 mins), mid-late January (20-25 mins), and mid-late May (20 mins), along with free teacher training and support, that will take you around 30 minutes.  

There is no “catch” whatsoever. In short, everyone wins … the teachers, the school, the children, the parents.

Here's a 2024 National Irish Press article about ALPACA as well.