Our Phonics International programme has been used in some Australian schools for a number of years, and then when Lioncrest in Australia started to supply our hard-copy No Nonsense Phonics programme developed from our experience and findings with Phonics International, further schools in Australia adopted No Nonsense Phonics as a stand-alone programme or to complement the Phonics International programme’s resources. Here is some FEEDBACK from various people in Australia.
Currently, the supplier Lioncrest in Australia no longer supplies our No Nonsense Phonics programme as their arrangement was with the original publisher of No Nonsense Phonics Skills (Raintree Ltd) – but this has not stopped teachers from buying it from us across the pond!!! With regard to the extra postal cost of us supplying our hard copy resources overseas, this is the response from one school in Australia more than happy to pay the costs stating, “Our teachers and children really love the books“! These are the No Nonsense Phonics Skills Pupil Books that are proving so popular – supportive, engaging and effective – that are referred to in this comment. Just like in England, I have complete confidence that schools in Australia adopting our paper-based phonics programmes will do well in the new Australian phonics check which appears to be very similar indeed to the check used in England.
Dr Kerry Hempenstall of Australia alerted the international DDOLL network to a new article in The Age. The development featured in the article is the intention of officials to introduce a statutory phonics check in Australia from 2026 which is long, long overdue. The battle for systematic synthetic phonics provision in Australia is decades old. The statutory Year One Phonics Screening Check in England was introduced way back in 2012 – and, yes, this really did sharpen teachers’ minds to focus on their phonics provision because now they were somewhat accountable for their phonics teaching effectiveness (a national average annual result is provided by the Government) according to the results of their Year 1 pupils (in England, this is after the children have received nearly two full years of planned ‘systematic synthetic phonics’ provision). This is the article Kerry kindly flagged up to others as this is very important news for Australia:
‘Phonic boom: The new, faster test for checking youngsters’ reading skills
February 23, 2025 — 1.33pm
Victorian teachers are saving time they say they can redirect to educating with a new, streamlined and more efficient phonics check designed to gauge the literacy skills of the state’s six-year-olds.
The new 10-minute assessment, part of the state’s move toward an “explicit instruction” model of literacy learning, will replace the contentious English Online Interview (EOI), which the state government scrapped in December.
The EOI, the subject of much criticism over the years from both the profession and academia, is still available for schools to use this year, but from 2026, the grade 1 phonics check will be mandatory in all government schools.
Both the EOI and the phonics checks are one-on-one between a teacher and a student, but the old assessment took up to 40 minutes to administer.
Government schools can now choose to hold off applying the old test for the 2025 school year or begin the transition to the phonics check before it becomes mandatory next year.
As soon as the EOI – which was so lengthy that schools were often forced to draft in casual relief teachers to administer it – was no longer compulsory, Docklands Primary School dropped it.
“There was a lot in the English Online Interview that was nice to know but didn’t really have any impact on students learning to read,” Bethany Tonkin, the school’s literacy expert, said, adding that it also included things like retelling a story or rhymes.
Tonkin said the new grade 1 phonics check was shorter and more focused than the previous assessment.
“It’s a fabulous use of teacher’s time so they can get on with the important business of teaching, and it really just tests the essential skills for reading,” Tonkin said.
The check uses 20 real words, and 20 made-up or “alien” words for grade 1 students to sound out to measure their reading and phonics knowledge.
Using made-up words such as “scrug” helps a teacher determine if a child can recognise sounds a letter makes, rather than just recognising a word. The alien words are illustrated with a cartoon extraterrestrial, used to reinforce the notion that the child is not looking at a real word, and to provide visual engagement.
As a student moves through the check, they sound out both the words and non-words, with teachers recording results.
Tonkin said the test provided educators with precise data on how each student was doing.
“We’re able to get really clear data on where students are, and what they need to learn,” Tonkin said.
She said the test also helped teachers identify struggling students who needed immediate intervention.
Grattan Institute education expert Jordana Hunter said the phonics check allowed educators to determine what children had mastered or if they needed additional help.
“It will also save time in the long run because if we pick up those students that are struggling early, we can intervene quickly to get them back on track,” she said.
Hunter said there was a strong argument for children who didn’t meet the grade 1 benchmark after sitting the test to resit the phonics check again in grade 2.
“Having a year 2 resit process, just for those children who didn’t meet that benchmark in year 1, is critical, and I really want the government to adopt that recommendation,” she said.
It was also important for parents to be aware of expectations and be informed with any changes, a leading advocacy group said.
RELATED The Age ARTICLE
Schools’ success with phonics teaching switch may take years to show
“[The department] need to seize the opportunities for interaction and have those conversations and give parents that kind of key information about what to expect during a transition year and next year,” McHardy said.
The government has pledged $5 million to help schools implement the new check and pay for new classroom equipment, and Education Minister Ben Carroll reiterated his commitment to explicit instruction teaching.
“The evidence is clear that explicit teaching and the use of systematic synthetic phonics instructions gets results,” Carroll said.
“Our synthetic phonics program was developed by Victorian academic and education experts in evidence-based reading instruction, including teachers, principals and speech pathologists, to best reflect how students learn to read.”
