Phonics International

Here's another simple bit of feedback which really makes my day. It's a great relief that another person felt the course was worthwhile. And of course I hope this translates to so many more children being set up with strong foundational literacy! That was a brilliant course. I learned so much. Can I...

It was great to get this feedback via Twitter DM (Direct Message) - thank you! Hi Debbie. I am new to EYFS (20 years in Juniors) but I wanted to do develop my phonics understanding so I completed your course. Thank you it has been amazing and the impact on the children has been amazing. When I asked...

A primary headteacher gave me this feedback via Twitter DM: The whole staff are enjoying your online course very much. And as I write this post, David just received this comment: Hi I am enrolled on your phonics training course and I thought it was so good, I've recommended it to a couple of colleag...

Here is a link to a thread from the forum of the International Foundation for Effective Reading Instruction (IFERI) featuring the petition of literacy specialist, Anne Glennie, and the subsequent enquiry in Scotland which at the time of writing this, is still ongoing and has over 24,000 views! This ...

This fab message was sent to David today about our Phonics Training Online course: PS I have contacted as many headteachers as I can to suggest that they put teachers and LSAs onto Debbie's training asap. I think all teachers and LSAs in all subjects at all key stages nationwide should be doing this...

We have now embedded the recorded webinar at this new page, bringing together many of our free resources, and created in the light of the coronavirus 'lockdown': https://phonicsinternational.com/cv-lockdown-resources/ David and I send everyone our warmest good wishes in this awful pandemic - we hope...

These are the printable 'Course Notes' that complement the recorded webinar: Teaching reading and spelling in English as the main or additional language 'Two-pronged systematic and incidental phonics' Course Notes: Summary of main features of phonics reading and spelling/writing instruction https://...

A few people tweeting today asking about recommendations for phonics training received this response about our Phonics Training Online course which made my day! MrDunford-Crozier BEd (Hons), NPQH @MrdunfordC I finished the course today. Loved it! Thank you as always to any feedback - long or short! ...

Please note - in light of the dreadful coronavirus pandemic, we have immediately made more of our resources not only 'nearly free', but free and easy access to anyone who thinks they may be of benefit. This includes the Series of 8 eBooks 'Alphabetic Code and Phonics Skills' which we compiled from s...

Here is the extract from Sir Jim Rose's Final Report, paragraph 51, that I refer to in the message immediately above: 51. the case for systematic phonic work is overwhelming and much strengthened by a synthetic approach, the key features of which are to teach beginner readers: *grapheme/phoneme (let...

I thought this was a good time to elaborate on some of my thoughts: I’m so pleased that you’ve been given some food for thought about your own practice with individual children. And thanks to _ _ _ _ for confirming that in the Clackmannanshire provision, beginners were given whiteboards to manip...

It was really great to then receive a response where someone had gone on to reflect on mini whiteboard use in a specific tutoring context - this was the comment: This is not about using whiteboards for the whole class, not sure about that … But --- I am starting to agree with the point about losin...

We then had this confirmation and description of how mini whiteboards were put to GOOD use in the Clackmannanshire study which was very helpful information and confirmed my understanding of use of the whiteboards: I’ve done a quick check on the way mini-whiteboards were used in the Clackmannanshir...

Another person soon responded with her personal observations of classroom practice: Here in England, I often see children sitting on the floor in awkward positions holding fat pens in strange ways with mini-white boards on the floor or balanced on laps. I see what Debbie described - the children mak...

I've long since been critical of over-use, or mis-use of mini whiteboards for phonics provision - and so I thought it would be interesting and helpful to copy and paste a discussion taking place via one of my professional networks: The use of mini whiteboards is so common in many schools - including...