The Writers:

Adele Wallis

After graduating in 1980, Adele began as a speech therapist working in Kingaroy, Queensland (3 1/2 hours north-west of Brisbane), for Education Queensland. Since that time she has worked in many areas of the State, mainly in schools, although she has held positions in Child and Youth Mental Health Services, Endeavour Foundation, and Disability Services Queensland.

During the twenty years for Education Queensland, Adele worked in all sectors - Early Intervention Teams, Primary, Special and Secondary Schools. For four years she was Speech pathologist-in-charge of the northern region in Queensland. After some time spent in private practice, she returned to work in the specialist teams for Evolve, DSQ and CYMHS.  

For the past 15 years she has been working to write and develop resources. Adele also enjoys presenting workshops on the numerous publications she has developed, to schools and parent groups.

Jennifer Slattery

Jennifer has worked as a speech pathologist, in between family commitments, since 1981. She started work in New South Wales in the Community Health Sector. When she moved to Alstonville on the north coast, Jennifer began working in the early childhood sector, based in a local kindergarten, before moving into the primary school sector.

The combination of Jennifer's excellent editing skills, as well as her professional skills as a speech and language pathologist, makes her an invaluable member of our team. One of her major tasks is to check the instructional language to ensure that it is at an appropriate level, clear and user-friendly, logical and coherent.

Sue Pryde-Walsh

Co-author of Surfing Sounds Sue has worked as a speech pathologist across all sectors of education and has developed a keen interest in language, literacy and phonological processing. She has worked as a speech pathologist in schools and as Speech pathologist-in-charge. 

From talking to teachers, teacher aides and advisory/support teachers, Sue saw a need for a resource that would help children develop a firm knowledge of the alphabetic principle and enhance their phonological processing skills. Sue worked closely with Cheryl Weily, and together they put together an outline of a student dictionary and intervention manual, which they brought to Sandpiper.

Cheryl Weily

The other half of Surfing Sounds, Cheryl is a dedicated teacher, whose commitment has always been to the children in her care. Cheryl initially trained in Tasmania, but has worked for many years in Queensland schools as a teacher and advisory support teacher in early childhood. Cheryl is currently working as the teacher in charge at a special education unit.

Cheryl and Sue have worked hard to produce a resource that is attractive to children, whether they are just starting on the road to literacy, or whether they are struggling with the concepts of letters, sounds and words.

The Editor:

Greg Kiorgaard

Greg worked as a guidance officer in Education Queensland for nearly thirty years but is presently employed as the research ethics officer at the University of the Sunshine Coast. 

Greg has also worked as an Information Officer for the Education Department for five years, and gained considerable experience in writing and editing. During that time he produced a large number of publications.  Greg uses these skills to edit the technical detail and style of the resources, ensuring that all products have been written clearly and concisely.

The Illustrators:

Debbie McFarlane



Debbie has worked in various settings and positions, but her primary interest has always been in drawing. Soon after she began illustrating the resource My little articulation book she realised what perfectionists speech pathologists were, and probably had some second thoughts about the job. But she stayed and has produced some marvelous work that appeals to all children. 

Debbie's illustrating style is simple, clear and uncluttered, appealing to children of any age. Debbie has also kept her illustrations clear as black-line drawings for ease of photocopying. 




Katy Drake



Katy is an artist, who has worked in schools for a number of years as her three children have grown up. She has a great range in illustrative style, which is adapted to the needs of each resource she is involved with. She brings a particular experience to the job as she has had close involvement working with children with special needs, and so understands their unique perspective.

Bernadette Murphy

Bernadette completed her studies in art and computer design, and already she has loads of talent that we are tapping into. She completed the illustrations for My First Dictionary and they look fabulous. (My personal favourite is 'Tattoed Toad'.)