Debbie Hepplewhite Literacy

August 2025 – I felt extremely honoured when Nick Gibb recently messaged me via the X platform to let me know he had mentioned me in his new book, ‘REFORMING LESSONS – Why English Schools Have Improved Since 2010 and

https://www.tes.com/magazine/teaching-learning/primary/why-phonics-hasnt-won-reading-wars-yet-literacy-in-schools Debbie: I recommend reading the article (link above) by Holly Korbey if you have an interest in the current state of play of reading instruction of the English language internationally. I also recommend a visit to the Blog and

Across the world, educators in many countries choose to teach speaking, reading and writing in the English language when it is not the ‘home language’ (also known as ‘the mother tongue’ or ‘the first language’). Teachers may ‘have to’ teach

I feel very honoured to have been invited as the sole speaker from the United Kingdom for the ‘global’ GLOW conference hosted by SAAR Education in India. The video is just over one hour long, but my talk starts around

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,

Debbie: Do you know that feeling one gets when, ‘out of the blue’, someone thinks to reach out with the kindest words and fondest memories – the kind of contact that warms one’s heart and (with regard to ‘phonics’) that

Many thanks to Bethany for this super feedback below. Bethany has also kindly sent me some fabulous ‘over the shoulder’ photographs of children using their Pupil Books, and photos of various No Nonsense Phonics wall displays. I’m very grateful, especially

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,

Debbie: I was unaware that journalist Rhys Williams was conducting an extensive investigation to compare guidance for teachers in reading instruction across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to compare with current official guidance in England. I was aware, however, of

We hear from people in different contexts and countries about how well teaching and learning is going with our phonics programmes, but it’s really great to ‘see/watch’ phonics provision in action. Those of you who know of my work well

Our company, Phonics International Ltd, is literally ‘international’ and over the years, David (my hubby) and I have had many lovely ‘feedback’ comments from people in different countries and widely-differing contexts. We appreciate every single one – thank you to

Debbie: Please note that any training, suggestions and guidance I give for the No Nonsense Phonics programme’s resources via its routine phonics ‘teaching and learning cycle’ applies equally to the rationale and resources of the Phonics International programme. If teachers,

Debbie: Every half term (there are three ‘terms’ in England’s academic year), literacy advisor Carl Pattison endeavours to hold an online meeting with the Reading Leaders from schools using the No Nonsense Phonics (NNP) programme. Most of these schools are

We are grateful to have received this testimonial below provided by the Headteacher of a primary school in Wales, UK – January 2025: ‘After deciding to focus on improving phonics and reading to ensure that all children are able to

The need to distinguish between consonant letters and vowel letters through teaching about ‘the alphabet’ compared to consonant sounds and vowel sounds through teaching about the ‘alphabetic code’ Teachers need to teach about both ‘the alphabet’ and ‘the alphabetic code’

This thread (link below) via the FORUM at the International Foundation for Effective Reading Instruction includes various articles I have written, and videos where I have been invited as a guest speaker, over the years. A few of the links

UPDATE: January 2025 – the video of the Edge Hill University talk is no longer in the public domain at the request of the university. December 2024 – See the recording of a talk I provided for student-teachers at Edge Hill

In previous posts, Literacy Advisor Carl Pattison has described the benefits and results of the rich-content, paper-based approach of the No Nonsense Phonics programme implemented in multiple schools of the Flying High Trust, with Reading Leaders describing their ‘Surprises‘ from

Debbie Hepplewhite: November 2024 – At long last, we have uploaded a ‘combined’ English-Welsh Alphabetic Code Chart. This has been an idea for some considerable time, and I’m extremely grateful to Rob Randel who has provided the Welsh content for

5th November 2024: I’ve written untold numbers of emails, over many years, to teaching professionals who approach me for information and training for my various phonics programmes. Having asked for their school context and perceived training requirements, I reply accordingly

Update: January 2025 – Education journalist Warwick Mansell publishes a further report featuring a possible fine for The Wandle Trust for unpaid VAT on enormous profits from the Little Wandle programme: https://x.com/warwickmansell/status/1884216730500882680 Update: December 2024 – See the recording of

Update: January 2025 – Education journalist Warwick Mansell publishes a further report featuring a possible fine for The Wandle Trust for unpaid VAT on enormous profits from the Little Wandle programme: https://x.com/warwickmansell/status/1884216730500882680 ——————————————– 20 September 2024 – this post is

Written by Debbie Hepplewhite (12th July 2024) The Beginning Coral is Spanish. She provided English phonics lessons for three to five year olds (75 children) in a Spanish bilingual school way back in 2005. At that time in Spain, this

Carl Pattison is an Independent Literacy Advisor. At the time of writing this guest post, Carl has various roles including Priority Literacy Lead for a Key Stage 2/3 literacy project across Derby and Nottingham Cities aimed at raising standards in

Thank you so much to Year One teacher and Phonics lead, Aimee Flook, who organised some live Zoom training events for a school ‘refresher’ and for some new colleagues at the school. I received permission to share this video in

Debbie: The field of ‘Education’ is devolved in the United Kingdom. This has led to a different rationale, and different content, for ‘official’ guidance for teacher training, and foundational literacy instruction for learners, in England compared to Scotland, Wales and

We may have news of a very exciting development for the hard-copy ‘No Nonsense Phonics‘ programme which already has several schools using it successfully in Australia. The reputation of ‘No Nonsense Phonics‘ is growing across school communities because of its

Debbie: Jingying contacted me some time ago from China – then recently she emailed me with updates about her son’s progress and I asked her if she would like to share her findings via my literacy blog. Sharing Jingying’s experience

Phonics International as an Intervention in Secondary Education – Click HERE in a Primary School in Western Australia – Click HERE and in a Primary School in England – Click HERE

IMPORTANT UPDATE JAN 2022: Abigail Steel and I have now recorded a webinar discussing the issues around ‘matched reading books’ – this refers to the scenario in England and it includes references to research: Micromanaging Matched Reading Books Webinar Debbie: All