Phonics Reform England: Not reading reform. Phonics reform. It is about fixing the part that is currently failing too many children.
"Please show your support for introducing free dyslexia risk screening for all three-year-olds in England".
The Upstream Team
S35. Children entering school with speech or language difficulties are at risk of literacy difficulties, including dyslexia.
The Critical Window Is Reception and Year 1, But Early Screening at Age 3 Can Reduce Later Reading Failure
Children aged 5 to 7 represent a critical window for preventing the dyslexia paradox, as this is the period in which foundational skills in phonemic awareness and word reading are established and are most responsive to instruction. Research consistently shows that phonemic awareness at school entry is a strong predictor of later reading success and functions as a protective factor against reading failure (Hulme et al., 2012; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2012). Children who begin school with well-developed phonemic awareness are far less likely to become instructional casualties, as they are able to form accurate phoneme–grapheme mappings and benefit from general classroom teaching. In contrast, children who enter school without this foundation are more dependent on the precision of teacher knowledge and support, and are at significantly greater risk of persistent reading difficulty (Snowling & Hulme, 2012). Longitudinal and intervention research further shows that children who are not reading well by around age 7 are much less likely to catch up to age-expected levels, even with intervention, as later support typically results in smaller and more variable gains and rarely closes the attainment gap (Juel, 1988; Wanzek et al., 2020).
Hulme, C., Bowyer-Crane, C., Carroll, J. M., Duff, F. J., & Snowling, M. J. (2012). The causal role of phoneme awareness and letter–sound knowledge in learning to read: Combining intervention studies with mediation analyses. Psychological Science, 23(6), 572–577. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611435921
Juel, C. (1988). Learning to read and write: A longitudinal study of 54 children from first through fourth grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(4), 437–447. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.80.4.437
Melby-Lervåg, M., Lyster, S. A. H., & Hulme, C. (2012). Phonological skills and their role in learning to read: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 138(2), 322–352. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026744
Snowling, M. J., & Hulme, C. (2012). Annual research review: The nature and classification of reading disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 53(6), 593–617. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02495.x
Wanzek, J., Vaughn, S., Scammacca, N., Gatlin, B., Walker, M. A., & Capin, P. (2020). Extensive reading interventions for students with reading difficulties after Grade 3. Review of Educational Research, 90(6), 891–928. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654320937077
Upsteam Screening
Every child deserves to be understood so that they do not fall behind. In the current system, too many do. At least 1 in 4.
I identify speech sound processing differences in toddlers before they start school, so their learning journey can be tailored to how their brain works. No more waiting years for a diagnosis after the child has been failed. If we align teaching with a child’s neurotype from the very start, most would never reach the point where a diagnosis is needed. In the current system a diagnosis also doesn't lead to better support. Join me in creating a world where children who learn differently are recognised, supported and celebrated from the early years. Let's start a movement to prevent the dyslecia paradox!
Emma Hartnell-Baker MEd SEN "The Neurodivergent Reading Whisperer"
Creator of MyWordz Technology: Show the Code with The Code Overlay
Dyslexia Re-RoutED Training for Early Years Educators
In many schools a diagnosis of developmental dyslexia follows what is often described as a “wait to fail” approach. A child must first show a sustained struggle with learning to read before more intensive support is even considered. Because of this, a formal diagnosis is rarely given before the end of Year 2 or the start of Year 3. Yet evidence shows that intensive interventions are most effective in Key Stage 1, and the best way to avoid the need for later intervention is to identify risk early and act preventively.
We train early years practitioners to spot the one in four children at risk and to respond through playful, language-rich activities such as singing, talking and everyday play that are woven naturally into daily routines. This quite literally changes the trajectory of children’s lives.
Learn to Screen Toddlers for Dyslexia Risk
This training is for early years practitioners, nursery managers, speech and language staff, and anyone who wants to become better attuned to the children within their neurodiverse setting and carry out dyslexia risk screening before children turn three.
The focus is on identifying children most likely to struggle to learn to read and spell with commercial phonics programmes mandated in KS1.
Our goal is prevention: preventing reading and spelling difficulties is far easier than later intervention or remediation.
Why Early Screening Matters
By assessing speech sound processing and phonological working memory well before formal reading instruction,in ways that are suitable for non-speaking children, you can highlight children at highest risk of finding phonics-based learning difficult.
Early identification means you can put the right support in place through everyday play, long before school reading lessons begin.
Children will learn to use Duck Hands, Lines and Numbers, and explore sound value with Speech Sound Monsters.
Although letters (graphemes) are introduced, they are not the focus. The aim is not to teach the child to read, but to ensure they develop the speech sound processing skills needed to learn phonics confidently when they start school.
What You Will Learn
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How to conduct play-based screening during the day, integrated into normal routines (it is not a formal test like the Reception Baseline Assessment).
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How to interpret each child’s choices and responses – screening works even for non-speaking children, as no spoken answers are required.
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How to design speech-sound play activities that strengthen processing and memory, and spark excitement about connecting speech to print.
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How to share findings with families and colleagues to guide early, tailored support.
Flexible Training Options
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In-person workshops at your nursery, preschool, or early years setting
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Interactive online training for individuals or teams
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Bespoke packages to help embed screening into daily practice
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On-demand online training (coming soon)
Get Started
If you manage or work in an early years setting and want to embed free dyslexia risk screening for toddlers into your practice, we invite you to express your interest in training today.
We will also show you how to use the Speech Sound Play plan, as seen in SSP classrooms across Australia and by those using Speedie Readies
Speech Sound Play
As the DfE no longer recommends Phase 1 of Lettters and Sounds we recommend that all children complete at least the 10-day Speech Sound Play plan prior to synthetic phonics instruction, as this provides a foundation in the key skills identified as central to early literacy development. The Delphi consensus highlights phonological processing, including phonemic awareness and phonological memory, as core areas of difficulty in dyslexia (S7), alongside the increased risk associated with early speech and language difficulties (S35). Speech Sound Play directly addresses these areas by strengthening children’s awareness of speech sounds, introducing phoneme segmentation and blending with a focus on the sounds that will be linked to graphemes s, a, t, p, i, n, supporting phonological working memory, and developing the oral language foundations required for mapping speech to print. Phonemies (Speech Sound Monsters) provide a visual representation of speech sounds, making abstract concepts accessible, particularly for children who cannot reliably perceive or isolate sounds, so instead of expecting them to hear the sounds, we show them. This early focus acts as a protective step, particularly for children at risk, ensuring they are better prepared for classroom instruction and less dependent on later intervention. Importantly, the approach also introduces MySpeekie®, a one-screen AAC tool that enables non-speaking children to access and express words by typing speech sounds independently using the Phonemies screen, ensuring inclusion from the outset and allowing all learners to engage with the same foundational processes.
Children who work through the Speech Sound Play plan are first introduced to the idea that spoken words are made up of individual speech sounds, and that the Speech Sound Monsters® say those sounds, and that these sounds are organised in a left-to-right sequence when spoken English is represented in print, enabling them to understand sound order before graphemes are introduced as visual representations of those sounds, ie pictures of speech sounds (Speech Sound Pics®). They can lay out the Phonemies (Speech Sound Monsters®) before using graphemes. They offer a visual representation for the sounds that at-risk children cannot initially hear, segment or blend, providing scaffolding and reducing cognitive load (Sweller, 1988; Sweller et al., 2011).
Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257–285.
Sweller, J., Ayres, P., & Kalyuga, S. (2011). Cognitive load theory. Springer.