🎁 Freebie Alert! Check out our Word Sort Templates — a simple but powerful tool for teaching alternative spellings. They help children focus on which spelling choice fits and build sharper spelling awareness along the way. 💡 Download 👉 cache.phonicshero.com/wp-content/upl…

🧻 Rip it up! Print strips of paper with the vowel in a different colour to the consonants. Students read the word with the final e, then rip it off to reveal its minimal pair! ✂️ hope → hop ✂️ ride → rid Talk about how the meaning changes.

Dictation might sound dry…but it’s actually one of the best tools for practising segmenting! 🖼️ Show a picture of a decodable word 👂 Children segment the sounds ✍️ Then, write the graphemes in sequence Short, sharp, and super effective!

Phonics doesn’t end in Year 2! From Year 3 onwards, children still need phonics; there’s no set “finish line” because: ⏳ Progress rates vary 📈 Phonics knowledge keeps growing ✅ Quality instruction is key for as long as it’s needed 👉 Read the blog: phonicshero.com/older-students…

Yes — and no. They need the same explicit, systematic phonics instruction, but with: 🧠 Extra vocab support 🗣️ Clear modelling of sounds 👂 More listening opportunities They don’t need less phonics — they need it even more clearly.

👩‍🍳 Got any budding chefs at home? Next time you’re baking, sprinkle some flour on the table and let your child trace letters or simple words with their finger. It’s messy, it’s fun, and it’s a firm teacher favourite for building letter formation and phoneme–grapheme links! ✨

📚 Are your students reading with automaticity? If decoding is slow by Year 2, comprehension and confidence can suffer. In this blog post, Shirley Houston explains why automaticity matters and how to move from accuracy to mastery. 👉 Read it here: phonicshero.com/automaticity-i…

✏️ Graffiti the junk mail! Tricky words like 'the', 'was' and 'are' pop up everywhere 👀 Before the junk mail hits the recycling, challenge your child to hunt and highlight all the tricky words they can find. ⏱️ Add a timer for extra excitement!

Welcome back, Australian & New Zealand teachers! 🇦🇺🇳🇿 Here’s to a great start to the new year ✨

Ready to update your accounts for 2026? Email the team with your class lists in an Excel spreadsheet and we'll do the rest! ✉️ Send it to: [email protected]

🔔 Reminder: App Update Needed A quick reminder to ensure the Phonics Hero app is updated on all devices. This update improves the Spell and Sentence games. If the app isn’t updated, some games may stop working. Thank you 🙌

🔔 Reminder: App Update Needed A quick reminder to ensure the Phonics Hero app is updated on all devices. This update improves the Spell and Sentence games. If the app isn’t updated, some games may stop working. Thank you 🙌

Home phonics inspo! 🎨 Jump onto Canva (or any app with clipart) and get creative at home. Ask your child to choose a word and say it in sounds (e.g. c-a-t). Type it out, pick an image, and turn it into a masterpiece! Here’s one of our little heroes’ latest creations 🌟

📛 Look at your class list — it’s a goldmine for explaining alternative spellings, AND they'll all be paying close attention listening for their names! ✨ 𝐊ate ✨ 𝐂lara ✨ 𝐂𝐡ris ✨ Be𝐜𝐤 Same sound, different spellings — and way more engaging when it’s their name! 🙌

Teaching split digraphs? Make sure you are teaching the most common first: a-e, i-e, o-e — found in many everyday Tier 1 words. Then move to the less common split digraphs: e-e, u-e, y-e — often seen in more advanced Tier 2 words. Systematic order = stronger foundations. 💪

🎉 NSW Student SSO is now LIVE in Phonics Hero! Students can now log in using NSW Department of Education SSO — faster, simpler, and no more forgotten passwords. QR codes issued this year still work (with the latest app update). 💜

Phonics isn’t the end goal...Books are! Happy World Book Day! 🌎📚 #worldbookday #phonics

Teaching blending? Face paint makes the “stretch and slide” method so much fun! Use your arm: tap your upper arm for the first sound, elbow for the second, wrist for the third, then sweep your finger along your arm to blend the sounds (and paint!) together. 🎨 #phonicsactivity

Minimal pairs: word pairs that differ by just one sound - brilliant for teaching split digraphs! 💡 They show how adding that final 'e' changes everything: hop → hope rid → ride mad → made A simple way to help children see and hear the power of the split digraph. ✨

Eid Mubarak to all who are celebrating today 🌙 Wishing you joy, peace and special moments with your family ✨