May 2025 – Many thanks to Tracey Vessey and Abril Aguilera who sent me (Debbie) this fabulous description of their SSP journey – with reference to developments in Spain and the significant input of Coral George.
Tracey:
‘Sixteen years ago, I found myself at a crossroads. I was teaching five-year-olds in a bilingual school—Colegio Juan de Lanuza in Zaragoza—and I was desperate to help my young learners begin their journey into reading and writing in English. But where to begin? I didn’t have a roadmap… until one day, while searching online, I stumbled across SSP (Systematic Synthetic Phonics).
That discovery changed everything.
I reached out to Coral George and, to my amazement, she came all the way to Zaragoza to train our English department. That was the start of something truly special. We began our journey with Jolly Phonics for our youngest learners, which was a great foundation—but soon realized we needed more depth, structure, and support.
Coral then connected us with the incredible Debbie Hepplewhite, and some of us even travelled to the UK to train directly with her and learn how to implement the Phonics International programme (PI). The results? Nothing short of a transformation. Our students’ reading, spelling, and pronunciation took off! Even our Secondary teachers commented on the dramatic improvement.
Today, you’ll find Alphabetic Code Charts proudly displayed in every classroom from Third Primary upwards, tailored to the age and stage of the learners. Each student gets their own A4 desk chart—we call it their “SSP Bible”—a constant companion in their English learning journey.
We follow the PI programme systematically, but we also weave incidental phonics teaching throughout the day. In a bilingual environment, this is absolutely essential. Whether we’re teaching Social Science, Art, or any other subject, unfamiliar English spelling code pops up constantly—and thanks to SSP, our students are ready. The visual tools and code knowledge give them the confidence to tackle any word they meet:
‘Two-pronged systematic AND incidental phonics teaching and learning’
One challenge we constantly face is time. There’s never quite enough of it to do all the paper-based work we’d like. That’s why we prioritize carefully selected PI resources to consolidate the phonics alphabetic code. And now, with increasing curriculum demands, we’ve started carrying some PI content into Secondary school—a positive step that means our older students and their teachers continue developing as phonics experts!
In fact, after Coral’s training in 2010, I became a certified SSP trainer myself. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of training student teachers from Zaragoza University and educators from schools across the region. They often visit our classrooms to watch SSP in action—and that’s where the real magic happens.
Spotlight on Coral George: Trainer, Mentor, Ambassador
One of the driving forces behind the success of phonics teaching in Spain—and beyond—is Coral George, a passionate and knowledgeable educator with years of experience in supporting schools, teachers, and trainee educators in adopting high-impact phonics instruction.
Coral is not only a dedicated phonics trainer, but also an internationally recognized Synthetic Phonics Ambassador, known for her energy, clarity, and commitment to evidence-informed practice. With a deep understanding of the SSP approach, Coral has provided expert training and mentoring to schools across Europe, helping them embed effective phonics practices into both early years and primary education.
Her work focuses on empowering teachers with the tools they need to deliver Systematic Synthetic Phonics confidently, consistently, and creatively. Coral’s training sessions are always practical and inspiring, combining classroom-ready strategies with a solid grounding in the science of reading. She emphasizes not just what to teach, but how to teach it—and why it matters.
Thanks to her ongoing support, guidance, and collaboration with Debbie Hepplewhite, Coral has helped build a strong community of phonics-trained educators in bilingual schools, where teaching reading in English poses unique challenges—and incredible opportunities.
A New Voice, A Shared Passion: Abril Aguilera’s Phonics Journey
‘My name is Abril Aguilera, and I’m currently in my final year of a degree in Early Childhood and Primary Education at the University of Lleida, in Catalonia. This year, I chose to dedicate my final project to a topic that captured my curiosity and passion: the importance and didactic implementation of English phonics in second language learning.
It all started during my internship at a school in Lleida. A teacher there explained the importance of building phonological awareness and phonetic skills in the Catalan language from an early age. Yet, she pointed out that these essential skills were often overlooked in early childhood. That insight made me reflect: if phonics isn’t getting enough attention in our own language, what about in English?
That question became the heart of my research.
I began exploring phonics approaches and soon discovered Phonics International online. I contacted Debbie Hepplewhite, and to my great surprise, she generously offered a video conference where she explained her methodology, rooted in Systematic, Synthetic, and Incidental Phonics. The meeting was transformative—it clarified so many concepts and deepened my understanding of how phonics supports young learners.
During that call, I also met Coral George, whose insights during the session brought everything to life. I also met Tracey Vessey, who implements Phonics International at Colegio Juan de Lanuza in Zaragoza—just a short train ride from my city! Tracey kindly invited me to visit the school to see the method in action.
That visit was absolutely eye-opening. Seeing the integration of Jolly Phonics in Early Childhood and Phonics International from 3rd grade onward helped me understand how powerful and versatile these tools are when embedded into real-life classrooms. It gave me countless ideas for applying the approach in my own internship school—and at the English academy where I currently teach.
Right now, I’m developing and applying a didactic proposal on how to integrate phonics into a communicative classroom environment, specifically for Catalan-speaking learners acquiring English. I’m exploring how students respond to this structured, multi-sensory approach, and how it supports their ability to self-regulate and develop metacognitive awareness of language.
To be honest, since discovering phonics, I can’t imagine teaching any other way. It’s not just a method—it’s a mindset. Phonics empowers learners, gives them tools, and builds confidence in decoding a new language. I truly believe that every English learner deserves access to this powerful approach.
To everyone who has helped me along this journey—especially Debbie, Coral, and Tracey—I just want to say: thank you. This has opened the door to knowledge and opportunities that I’ll continue to build on, day by day.’
Tracey summarises:
‘Phonics isn’t just a subject—it’s a revolution in language learning. And stories like Abril’s remind us that this movement is growing, evolving, and inspiring a new generation of educators. Whether you’re just starting out or sixteen years in, like us, the phonics journey is one of the most rewarding you’ll ever take.‘
Contacts: coralgar@gmail.com, traceyv61@gmail.com, aabriilaguilera@gmail.com
Debbie: Scroll down on this page to find an embedded webinar featuring teaching English as an additional language – including optional, printable ‘notes’.
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Update June 2025: Abril wrote her latest news to Coral, Tracey and me (Debbie) and kindly gave permission to add her news to this post. Abril wrote:
‘Dear Debbie, Coral and Tracey,
I have recently finished my final degree project on how phonics and phonemic awareness training – through synthetic phonics programs, such as Phonics International or Jolly Phonics – promote English learning as a second language in preprimary and primary education in the context of Catalonian education.
Specifically, during the last months, I have implemented English language classes using that methods with infants aged 5, 9 and 11 years old and the results have been successful. Students have improved phonemes perception and gained awareness about how the English alphabetic code works. In fact, during all this process, the Alphabetic Code Chart has been an essential resource. Thanks to the chart, Catalan students have seen in a really visual and comprehensive way the relations between the graphemes and phonemes. Also, the activities seen in Juan de Lanuza school were really useful to get ideas on how to apply it. Additionally, I have integrated them in the communicative approach, through the creation of final tasks, such as creating spring rhymes (in preprimary education) or raps (in primary education). All the process has shown an increase in motivation and understanding of phonemes use. In fact, some primary children state that they have improved at the moment of reading, writing and pronouncing.
That said, I know this is just the beginning. I would like to continue exploring how these methods impact English language learners in Spain and to identify the most effective strategies for their implementation. I feel very proud of the work I’ve done over these past months, and I want to thank you sincerely for introducing me to the wide, fascinating, and practical world of phonics teaching.
Thank you once again for everything,
I look forward to hearing from you.
Warm regards,
Abril Aguilera López’
