The Speech Sound (Phonemic Awareness) Play Plan: A Speech-to-Print ‘Pre-Phonics Phasse, Find out why it matters on Phonics Reform England (PRE)
Embracing Learning Differences
Change Their Future: Find the 1 in 4
1 in 4 children in England are not learning to read and spell independently and with the expected fluency and comprehension with Systematic Synthetic Phonics programmes (DfE, 2025).
The NeuroReadies Learning Pathway is an early intervention designed for these children from Term 2 of Reception. Many are the brightest children in the room!
Screen during the Speech Sound Play Plan to identify them early, transform their literacy journey and change their lives.
All it takes is a kind TA who connects with children, because relationships matter, and who loves to talk, listen, rhyme and read. Simply follow the steps towards orthographic mapping and reading for pleasure.
Please order the handbook to see how it works. It has been revised for Word Mapping Mastery to ensure that every child can map every word. We map words for them until they no longer need any help, and that happens more quickly than you might imagine. Children are motivated to read because they love the characters and stories.
Emma Hartnell-Baker holds a Master’s degree in Special Educational Needs and is currently undertaking doctoral research into teacher decision-making around word mapping, particularly when grapheme–phoneme correspondences fall outside the scope of phonics programmes. She is passionate about embracing learning differences and challenging the deficit mindset, including the notion that children require something “special”. Instead, she argues that we simply need to understand each child as an individual and identify their educational needs. Recently, she opened the Free Early Dyslexia Screening Centre in Dorset to build a community of people interested in early attunement and to share groundbreaking work that makes the code visible for the one in four children who would otherwise struggle to read by the age of 11.
Ask about monthly NeuroReadies Learning Pathway tutoring through The Early Dyslexia Screening Centre, Dorset.
A note about terms!
SEN (Special Educational Needs) → broad umbrella term used in the UK and Australia for children who need additional support, including SLCN, dyslexia, ADHD, autism, and more.
SpLD (Specific Learning Difficulties/Disorders) → narrower term. Usually covers dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dyspraxia, but not ADHD, autism, or SLCN.