Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and work with the sounds in spoken words. Decoding uses knowledge of how letters represent those sounds to read unfamiliar words, and spelling uses the same knowledge the other way round. When this code is insecure, a pupil may guess words from their first letters, read slowly with many errors, or leave sounds out when spelling. The support described here teaches the missing parts of the code directly, in short structured sessions with a trained adult, alongside normal lessons.

A low composite score does not identify the exact teaching starting point. Begin with a detailed assessment of phoneme awareness, sound-letter knowledge, blending, segmenting, unfamiliar-word reading and spelling. Select an intervention from the resulting pattern rather than from age or score alone.

What the intervention should contain

Effective provision should be explicit, systematic and cumulative:

1. identify or manipulate the spoken sounds required for the next step;

2. connect those sounds with their written forms;

3. blend for reading and segment for spelling;

4. practise the same pattern in reading and writing;

5. revisit previously taught patterns;

6. check transfer into unfamiliar words and connected text.

Teach at the point of difficulty. Do not repeat a complete beginner sequence when the pupil has only a small number of unresolved gaps.

Adapt the delivery to age and severity

Younger Primary pupils may require a full validated systematic synthetic phonics sequence. Older Primary or Secondary pupils still need direct teaching where basic code knowledge is insecure, but materials and vocabulary must respect their age.

For older pupils, connect remaining sound-spelling gaps with syllable division, prefixes, roots and suffixes. Use curriculum vocabulary and age-appropriate text. Reduce phonics teaching once the pupil can decode unfamiliar words accurately with decreasing support; shift the emphasis towards automaticity, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

Build an implementation plan

Record:

• the assessed starting point;

• the precise intended outcome;

• who is trained to deliver the programme;

• session length and frequency;

• the programme sequence and non-negotiable routines;

• a brief baseline and regular progress measure;

• the review date;

• criteria for continuing, adapting or ending provision.

A typical pattern is short sessions of 20 to 30 minutes on most school days, one to one or in a group of two to four pupils with the same starting point, unless the programme sets its own pattern. The pupil's starting point decides how long it lasts; the school chooses where it fits in the day and when to review it (many schools review after six to eight weeks). Set one or two targets, such as “reads and spells unfamiliar words with adjacent consonants accurately”, and check them on words and text the pupil has not practised.

Monitor the taught skill and transfer. Improved performance on rehearsed word lists is insufficient if unfamiliar-word reading, spelling or connected-text accuracy does not change.

Programme options to investigate

These links describe current provider offers, not Talamo endorsements. Check training, cost, timetable and independent evidence before choosing.

• Read Write Inc. Phonics (paid) and Fresh Start (paid): Read Write Inc. Phonics is a whole-programme Primary route; Fresh Start uses age-appropriate materials for pupils aged roughly 9 to 13+ who need phonics-based catch-up. In secondary schools it starts with a quick placement assessment and is taught for 30 minutes a day, one to one at first and then in small groups, for anything from a few weeks to three terms depending on the starting point. EEF-funded evaluations are mixed: a small Year 7 trial found about three months' additional progress, while a larger trial found pupils made about two months less progress than the comparison group. More than a third of the schools offered it did not deliver it, and the EEF says the findings should be interpreted with caution. Choose the relevant route rather than combining two versions from the same provider.

• Sounds-Write (paid): a DfE-validated phonics programme with staff training, lesson resources and progress tracking. The provider offers Primary and Secondary provision. The Secondary membership is designed for interventions with older struggling readers and includes lesson scripts. It requires trained delivery and paid membership, from £400 a year in October 2026. DfE validation checks a programme against the criteria for systematic synthetic phonics; it is not a trial of impact.

• Lexonic targeted phonics and fluency options (paid): Lexonic Leap is aimed at targeted phonics gaps, including older learners; Advance focuses more strongly on polysyllabic decoding, morphology, vocabulary and automaticity. Leap starts with an online placement check and comes with a day of staff training. Advance runs as a 6-week block of weekly one-hour sessions for groups of four, after two days of training, so it keeps time out of lessons low; it suits pupils whose basic code is mostly secure. Check the evaluation reports linked from the provider's site rather than its headline reading-age gains. Select one according to the assessed profile.

• Toe by Toe (paid): a highly structured book for one-to-one phonics and decoding practice of about 20 minutes a day, which a teaching assistant or another adult can deliver without specialist training. It is used from about age 7, including with secondary pupils; the book cost £30 in October 2026. The evidence comes from small studies. A London study of 30 secondary pupils, half of them in a waiting comparison group, found gains in decoding and single-word reading but not in passage reading fluency or comprehension, and a small parent-delivered study in Ireland found smaller gains in comprehension and spelling than in word reading. Plan fluency, comprehension and spelling work alongside it.

• DfE Reading Framework: free, non-statutory guidance on phonics, assessment and support, covering pupils up to Year 9. It is not a packaged intervention.

Provider impact claims should be treated as provider evidence unless corroborated independently.

• English appendix 1: spelling (national curriculum): Free statutory list of spelling patterns, prefixes and suffixes by year group, with example words. Use it to choose and order word-structure targets.

• DfE phonics screening check materials: Free past papers of 40 short words, half of them made-up. Use them as a quick baseline and review of decoding on words the pupil has not practised.

Talamo has no commercial relationship with any of the organisations named here. We suggest them only because we think they could be useful to schools.