Chirp Pedagogy
About Us & Pedagogy
Calm, considered literacy support for tamariki
Chirp is built for school leaders, SENCOs, speech-language therapists and whānau who want to understand exactly how — and why — Chirp is designed the way it is. This page sets out our approach to inclusive design, structured phonics, wellbeing, and how we handle data, in plain and accurate terms. View pricing to choose a specialist or whānau pass; app access begins once your license is active.
Designed for every learner: Universal Design for Learning
Chirp's structure is informed by Universal Design for Learning (UDL) — an approach that plans for varied learners from the outset, rather than retrofitting accommodations afterwards. In practice, that means offering multiple ways to engage, multiple ways to take in information, and multiple ways to show learning.
Multiple ways to engage
Chirp offers interest bridges — familiar characters and phrases — so a learner's own motivation can carry them into structured practice, rather than requiring interest to be manufactured from scratch.
Multiple ways to take in information
Sounds, words and phrases are represented visually, aurally and through calm on-screen cues, so a learner isn't reliant on a single channel — such as hearing alone, or text alone — to access the same content.
Multiple ways to show learning
A learner can respond by touching, arranging magnetic tiles, reading aloud, or tracing — giving several honest ways to demonstrate understanding beyond a single test format.
Chirp is designed to be usable as part of whole-class (Tier 1) teaching, sitting alongside — not replacing — individual support from a specialist, RTLB, SLT or SENCO. As with any learning tool, Chirp cannot guarantee specific outcomes for any individual learner; progress depends on many factors beyond the app itself.
Systematic, structured phonics
Chirp's phonics pathway follows the principles of systematic synthetic phonics: sounds and letter patterns are introduced in a deliberate, cumulative sequence, and each new pattern builds on what a learner has already practised. Our four-stage structure is aligned to the phase names used in the New Zealand Ready to Read Phonics Plus series — Kākano, Tupu, Māhuri and Rākau — in that fixed order.
Kākano · Seed
First sounds and letters, alongside the earliest whole-phrase gestalt foundations.
Tupu · Seedling
Growing confidence blending digraphs and recognising familiar phrases.
Māhuri · Sapling
A young tree — longer vowel patterns, r-controlled sounds and diphthongs.
Rākau · Tree
A mature tree — the most advanced sounds, plus the trickiest irregular words.
High-frequency words and Heart Words
Alongside decodable phonics practice, Chirp maps the standard Fry first-200 high-frequency English words across our four stages. Many of these words follow regular patterns and are practised like any other decodable word. A smaller set — flagged as Heart Words — contain a spelling part that isn't yet decodable from the sounds taught at that stage (for example the "ay" in day, or the "ould" in should). Heart Words highlight exactly which part is irregular, so a learner practises that specific tricky chunk by heart, alongside — not instead of — regular decoding practice.
Chirp's phase names and sequencing are informed by the publicly described structure of the Ready to Read Phonics Plus series. Chirp is an independent product; it is not formally endorsed or certified by the New Zealand Ministry of Education, and our stage sequence is not claimed to be an exact equivalent of any specific curriculum resource.
Wellbeing alongside learning: Te Whare Tapa Whā
Reading grows best when a learner's wider wellbeing is supported too. Chirp's calm, low-arousal design is informed by Te Whare Tapa Whā, which describes four distinct, interdependent dimensions of hauora (wellbeing). We treat these as balanced supports that sit around a learner's practice — not as another way of describing our phonics phases, and not as an official partnership or endorsement.
Taha tinana · Physical wellbeing
Sessions are paced calmly, with generous touch targets and no rushed timers, so a learner's body isn't placed under unnecessary pressure while practicing.
Taha hinengaro · Mind and emotions
Low-arousal visuals, no flashing, and no harsh error states mean a learner's emotional state is respected as much as their academic progress.
Taha whānau · Family and belonging
Parents, caregivers and kaiako stay closely involved through settings, progress views and shared custom content, rather than a learner working in isolation.
Taha wairua · Spirit and identity
Personalised characters, phrases and te reo Māori stage names give each learner's practice a sense of meaning and identity, not just correct answers.
A privacy-conscious approach to school and whānau data
School leaders and SENCOs need to know exactly what is stored, where, and why. Here is a plain, accurate description of how Chirp handles data today.
Accounts and progress are stored securely
Adult (whānau/kaiako) accounts and learner profiles, along with progress and mastery records, are stored server-side so a learner's progress can be reliably accessed and reviewed by their authorised adults.
Customisations sync to your account
A–Z tile customisations, saved A–Z Board Themes and custom sentence stories are stored with the owning Chirp licence, so they appear on devices using that licence. Optional tile pictures are uploaded only when an adult chooses to save them.
Limited offline continuity
Chirp's manifest makes it installable as an app, but installability does not guarantee reopening or first load while offline. If connectivity drops while Chirp is already open, it can continue with previously loaded cached content and queue progress updates to sync once you're back online — ongoing access depends on what has already been loaded in that session.
Optional uploads, your school's obligations
Optional media a parent or specialist chooses to save — such as a custom avatar, tile picture or phrase recording — is uploaded server-side. Voice capture and initial processing happen on-device. Chirp does not collect zero data, is not a fully offline product, and does not eliminate the need for your school or service to assess its own privacy and compliance obligations.
For full detail on what we collect, why, and how to make an access, correction or deletion request, please read our Privacy Policy.
Choose the right Chirp pass for your whānau or school
View pricing and choose a suitable pass. App access starts once your purchase or license is active.