Thank you everyone for your excellent replies. I have recommended that the school who asked for my help goes with Jolly Phonics because the interactive IWB resources are excellent and I have written a total program for the first year of school. There are a number of other schools in the local area t...

Thanks Debbie for your reply. I am familiar with your website and all of the excellent advice on it. I was showing your Alphabetic Code to a group of teachers the other day to explain the terms 'simple' and 'complex' code. Floppy's Phonics is now available here too from Oxford University Press. All ...

The problem with the example anicka gave us was not only that the pace was funereal but also that there was absolutely no logic to the sequence of graphemes being taught! How about the project using Direct Instruction in aboriginal schools, anicka (sorry, its name eludes me). I understand it is bei...

Thanks so much for your reply Maizie. I totally agree. The problem that I constantly encounter here in Oz is that the idea of teaching all 42+ sounds in a year, let alone 16 weeks as in the Clackmannanshire study, sends some teachers into hysterics and crying fits. Seriously. They think it is too fa...

I am looking for a scope and sequence for the teaching of SP. What is taught in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2? Is the one below suitable? It does seem rather slow to me considering Jolly Phonics introduces all 42 sounds at the pace of about one a day. http://www.getreadingright.co.uk/wp-content/uploa...

Thank you JAC for providing this link. It is very interesting to read the views of LDA, Max Coltheart and APPA. It is always a source of wonder to me that the RRFMB is the place to go to find out what's happening here in Oz!!

The proposed Australian National Curriculum in English is a great disappointment to those of us in Australia who were hoping for clear direction about how to teach reading based on scientific research. The evidence for synthetic phonics is clear yet here in Australia the politicians and educational ...

I have been asked to tutor a group of 9-10 year olds with very poor literacy skills. They have had the usual mixed methods foundation topped up with a dash of reading recovery. My experience is mostly with 5 year olds learning to read with synthetic phonics. I know that it's much trickier working wi...

I have used the Jelly and Bean books very successfully. The children love the characters and the story lines are interesting and funny. Although the postage to Australia and New Zealand seems expensive the total cost of each book is very competitive if you compare it to the cost of the PMs. The exch...

Brilliant! Thank you so much Susan.

Does anyone know where the satipn order of sounds orginated?

Is there any research that shows the benefits of using decodable texts?

The interesting thing about the guide is that the correspondences are explained really well so there really shouldn't be a problem fixing a small section of one page. There are many teachers who need help with the alphabetic code. Once I tried to help a teacher who was convinced 'went' had 3 sounds....

You are right Elizabeth, about Aussies not pronouncing the /r/ at the end of words. At my school we use Jolly Phonics which teaches that 'car' has 2 sounds /c/ and /ar/, and 'for' has 2 sounds /f/ and /or/. The error really is a minor thing. I am frustrated by it because it makes my job harder. I sp...

I have sent an email to the head of the literacy unit in NSW with my congratulations for an excellent guide. It contains valuable information and advice for teachers. It certainly strengthens the position of those of us who have been advocates of systematic phonics instruction. I have pointed out th...

I was so excited to learn of a new phonics guide for NSW schools which draws heavily on synthetic phonics. My enthusiasm was replaced by despair when I read this: Following is an example of short, sharp, explicit phonics teaching focused on the letter-sound correspondence for r, /r/. Link new learni...