Platform Development · Web Design · Web Development

Let's Talk SPHE

Building Richie Sadlier's SPHE teaching platform for Irish schools

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Project overview

SPHE is changing in Irish schools. From September 2027, every school has to deliver 60 hours of SPHE at senior cycle, plus an hour a week in Transition Year. Richie Sadlier, former Ireland international, broadcaster and one of the country's best-known voices on young people's wellbeing, set up Let's Talk SPHE with Pam O'Leary so teachers wouldn't have to build those lessons from scratch. Richie is the heart of it. Teachers and students trust him, and the platform had to carry that same voice. We built the whole thing: the teacher platform, the public website, and the tools schools use to get their teachers set up.

Let's Talk SPHE richie classroom — Let's Talk SPHE Project overview

Challenge

Teachers want to run honest, open conversations about hard topics. Most don't have the time or the resources to plan them, and plenty feel nervous about getting sensitive subjects right. Schools have their own worries: covering the curriculum, keeping things consistent across classes, and not adding more admin. The platform had to work for all of them:

Teachers who need a lesson ready to go, with notes and slides, in a few clicks
School leaders who need to control who sees what, by year group
A team at Let's Talk SPHE who need to onboard whole schools without a support headache
Content that handles sensitive topics carefully, and grows as new lessons are added

Let's Talk SPHE platform home — Let's Talk SPHE Challenge

What we built

We built the platform around one idea: a teacher should be able to walk into a classroom confident and prepared. Pick a year group, pick a unit, and everything for the lesson is there: the slides to present, the teacher notes, the lesson plan and the printables.

The teacher platform

More than 80 lessons across Transition Year, 5th Year and 6th Year
Four Transition Year micro-modules, and six learning units each for 5th and 6th Year
Classroom-ready slides, teacher notes, lesson plans and printables for every lesson
Assessment guidance for each unit, plus planning and parent information

School setup and admin

School accounts with access set by year group
Teacher invites, school admins, and control over which years each teacher can see
Branded invite emails, with tracking and bulk sending for whole-school rollouts
A demo access level, so schools can try lessons before they sign up
A step-by-step onboarding guide and training for school admins

Let's Talk SPHE richie pam stairs (2) — Let's Talk SPHE What we built

Richie front and centre

People buy into Let's Talk SPHE because of Richie. So we put him at the centre of everything. We designed and built letstalksphe.com around the questions schools ask, with Richie's voice and face throughout. We also shot the photography and video for the launch, in a real school with real students, capturing Richie leading the kind of open, honest conversations the programme is built for.

Results

The platform went live for schools in August 2026, ahead of the new senior cycle requirement. Teachers now log in to more than 80 ready-to-teach lessons across three year groups, and schools set up their own teachers without needing to pick up the phone. We continue to support and develop the platform as the course grows.