Show the Code
The inclusive option for neurodiverse classrooms!
We make the graphemes AND phonemes visible to children when word mapping!
In Australia we offered the Speech Sound Pics Approach - but 'SSP' could be mistaken for Systematic Synthetic Phonics! So we refer to this as Visible Phonics and the HOW is outlined within the Word Mapping Mastery book, with training available - if you want to use Visible Phonics in the reception classroom ask for that specific training. Note that we cover all content included within synthetic phonics programmes, but HOW we do it is different, as we provide the tech to teach the children which frees up the teacher!
Visible Phonics
Speech Sound Mapping: Discovery Learning in Mind
When you show the code, you don't need to 'explicitly teach' the concepts—the 'Code Mapping®' (black/grey to indicate the Sound Pics®/graphemes) plus the Phonemies to show the sound value just make sense to children's brains.
Word Mapping Mastery!
Phase 1 A Focus on Phonemic Awareness
Do you have a subscription to the ICRWY Lessons app?
The 60 Phase 1 Lessons are there!
In the Australian schools we support, a new group of five-year-olds has just begun their academic journey. We want them to be excited about school and think it’s fun!
In these classrooms, Prep (Reception) teachers utilise our ICRWY technology to teach letter and number formation, phonics, and high-frequency words. This approach allows educators to move freely around the classroom, observing and assisting children as needed, rather than standing at the front of the class.
As an early years teacher, I recognised that, despite our best efforts, managing the unique needs of 25 young learners simultaneously is challenging. Our technology enables each child to learn at their own pace, ensuring that when a child requires individual attention, we can provide the necessary support. That’s not possible if we have to do everything ourselves.
Prioritising relationships and mental health is crucial, and our tools facilitate this by freeing teachers to focus on the emotional and educational needs of their students.
In contrast, the situation in England often sees teachers expected to manage all aspects of instruction, leading to exhaustion and overlooked mental health concerns. This approach holds teachers solely accountable when children do not meet learning targets, despite the evolving landscape of education. It makes no sense to me. And it’s awful for autodidacts who don’t want to be taught by a person. They want to get on with it—learn at their pace.
Today’s learners are adept at self-directed learning through platforms like YouTube and are able to learn things their parents generally can’t teach them, such as coding at a young age. The internet has transformed access to knowledge, shifting the parent and teacher’s role from being the primary source of information to guiding how children learn. By incorporating technology, we empower teachers to concentrate on aspects that technology cannot address, such as providing emotional support during critical moments. For example, our tech teaches constrained skills like phonics, enabling over 90% of students to pass the PSC before the end of Reception and become avid readers by the middle of Year One.
This matters, as we have freed up time for children to play more, and children who read for pleasure do well across the curriculum.
Our goal is to create educational technology that empowers teachers to focus on the human elements of teaching, ensuring that each child receives the attention and care they deserve. We need to let go of the idea that a Reception teacher has to ‘teach’ everything to every child. Some don’t need to be ‘taught’ in order to learn.
We can take a step back and focus on learning how our children learn—and be okay if it’s not via direct, explicit instruction delivered by us. We have an even more important job—to ensure each child is thriving emotionally and socially. Because with the brilliance of technology comes the risk of neglecting other skills that matter more than ever before.
Hands-on learning for all. Five year olds like to MOVE! As about our Parent and Teacher Monster Routine Workshops
The Speech Sound Pics (SSP) Approach, launched in Australia over a decade ago! Children understood 'phonics' to mean exploring 'speech sounds' and 'pictures of speech sounds' (graphemes). Simple, as 'schema-driven'! It is more structured, as teachers have a whole class to manage! It is far easier for a lot of children to learn to read before they enter the school system, for this reason.
​The Speech Sound Pics (SSP) Approach, launched in Australia over a decade ago, offered reception classroom teachers an inclusive way to ensure that every child—regardless of learning differences—mastered the Grapheme-to-Phoneme Correspondences (GPCs) of the DfE's synthetic phonics programme, Letters and Sounds (ironcally now defunct).
The approach provided a framework that made sense to all children, including those who are neurodivergent, such as Miss Emma herself. The Phonemies - Speech Sound Monsters - were a game changer for those who understood why at least 1 in 4 wasn't 'getting' synthetic phonics, and especially those later labelled 'dyslexic'.
Phase 1: Screening for Phonemic Awareness
All children began with Phase 1 to assess and strengthen their phonemic awareness. This foundational step ensured they were ready to progress into structured phonics instruction.
Phase 2: Learning GPCs Through Four 'Code Levels'
In Phase 2, children learned the GPCs in manageable steps, organised into four 'Code Levels.' Each child progressed at their own pace, supported by structured activities and tools:
-
Speedy Paired Code Mapping: A collaborative activity using code-level texts to reinforce learning.
-
Code Level Video Lessons: Daily video lessons tailored to each child's current Code Level.
-
Coding Posters: Visual tools to demonstrate knowledge of over 100 high-frequency words, mapped to their corresponding phonemes and graphemes.
By the end of the reception year, most (85%+) children had:
-
Completed the Letters and Sounds synthetic phonics content, and could read these books and pass the Year 1 PSC!
-
Gained the ability to recognise by sight and correctly spell approximately 400 high-frequency words, applied to their reading and writing activities.
-
Entered the self-teaching phase, as described by Ehri, progressing towards orthographic mapping.
Making Phonics Visible - Mapping Words Visually and Linguistically
The SSP (not systematic, synthetic phonics) Approach ensured that phonics—essentially the mapping of phonemes and graphemes—was made visible to children, and phonemic awareness became a huge focus.
For example:
-
When encountering the word 'dogs' IPA /d/ /É’/ /É¡/ /z/ children could recognise and pronounce it correctly the FIRST time, even if they had not yet formally studied the graphemes d, o, and g - with s representing the /z/ phoneme.
This was achieved using Phonemies (visual and linguistic alternatives to phonetic symbols) to bridge the gap between spoken and written English.
The SSP Approach enabled all children to succeed, ensuring inclusivity and fostering confidence as they mastered both decoding and word recognition, ultimately becoming skilled readers and writers.
When learning with synthetic phonics the children who know the graphemes - and can blend them - would first pronounce the word as /d/ /É’/ /É¡/ /s/ and then realise that isn't right. So they switch it. They will have to do this 'adjusting' a lot. It's often not discussed. They 'decode' the word with likely phonemes, and then make sense of it with their knowledge of vocabulary. However some children don't have enough 'code knowledge' - to recognise the graphemes - or the phonemic awareness to blend the sounds, and some don't know the word. Avery was able to 'follow the sounds, to say the words' here - for 8 our of 9 words. The only one he struggled with was the word 'father'. He hadn't heard the word before!
This is why those who train with Miss Emma are constantly checking if the child knows the speech sounds, Sound Pics (graphemes) and meaning. Does the child know the the /s/ maps to the /z/ sound. Just because they said /d/ /É’/ /É¡/ /z/ does not mean they have glued the three pieces together! And it is these three pieces that facilitate learning to read.
Because the 'phonics part is now easy for ALL to understand, we can talk about etymology and morphology too!
How does the /s/ change the word?
Visible Phonics is the ideal kick-start to orthographic knowledge—children get what they need, when they need it.
Programmes recommended within SoR groups are one-size-fits-all (and they don’t fit all!) as they push for "explicit" instruction, assuming this must be highly teacher-led and predominantly focused on print-to-speech methods. However, it doesn’t need to be that way for children to learn systematically and explicitly. The goal is for children to start reading as quickly as possible, but most of learning to read actually happens through implicit learning.
Very few teachers in England are being told this—they believe that if a child works through a synthetic phonics programme and passes the Phonics Screening Check, they will become a skilled reader. This is simply not true for at least 1 in 4 children.
