Our Key Staff

Chris Brooks

Principal and Specialist Educator

Chris works in education because he had learning problems when he went to school, especially in the area of reading and spelling. At 25, after reading Why Johnny Can’t Read by Rudolf Flesch he was able to teach himself to read using Phonics he picked up from Flesch. His personal success inspired him to write a program to teach others how to read and spell.

Chris has had extensive experience in the education sector over more than 40 years. He left working as a school teacher to set up the company that is now called High Performance Learning in 1980 so he could reach a larger and wider range of people with the award-winning reading, study and mathematics programs that he has developed.

Chris has gone on to develop many more paper and computer-based educational materials in many areas including the Basic Language and Learning Skills Program which incorporates the teaching of Phonics using the BetterThanaBook Multi–Media Font which colour-codes all the spelling and pronunciation rules of the English language for easy learning. Sample our interactive multimedia materials by clicking here.

Dr Amanda Abbott

Specialist Educator

Amanda worked as the leading medical researcher at the Australian Cranio-Facial Unit at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide for many years before joining High Performance Learning in 2002 so she could work on what goes on inside skulls instead of helping fixing the skulls themselves. She was motivated to change career after her two children overcame their extensive learning problems by doing programs at High Performance Learning. Amanda trained on the job and completed a Teaching Degree with Distinction at Deakin University which qualified her to teach from R-12. She had taught at university level for many years before.