How can we effectively implement phonics?

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” This famous Dr Seuss quote adorns the walls of libraries and classrooms all over the United Kingdom for good reason; reading is arguably the most important skill we can teach our pupils.

The role of phonics is key in quickly developing pupils’ word recognition and spelling, supporting them to become able readers. Phonics involves developing a child’s phonemic awareness, which is their ability to hear, identify, and manipulate phonemes, and to teach them the relationship between phonemes and the graphemes that represent them. There is extensive evidence to support the use of a phonics programme with pupils in Key Stage 1.

Although the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) doesn’t recommend a particular phonics programme, it does outline some key factors to consider.