Introduction
To explore how phonics can be adapted for older students, we spoke to Adam Levick, an experienced primary school teacher who now leads reading and transition at Trinity Academy Leeds.
Phonics is often associated with early years and primary education but for many secondary students – especially multilingual learners who are new to English literacy – explicit phonics instruction remains vital. Without it, gaps in decoding, fluency and comprehension can persist well into Key Stage 3 and 4, limiting access to the wider curriculum.
Adam draws on his deep understanding of early literacy to support students in secondary school who are not yet functionally literate or have large gaps between their reading and chronological ages.
In this conversation, Adam shares how he identifies learners who might benefit from an intervention, adapts phonics to be age-appropriate and supports multilingual learners in building both phonological awareness and confidence in English. His work is a compelling example of how we can build both the breadth and depth of effective literacy strategies.
How are students identified for phonics support and how is the intervention delivered and integrated into lessons?
At Trinity Academy Leeds, students are selected for phonics intervention based on a combination of NGRT (New Group Reading Test) data, primary school transition information and teacher recommendations. The focus is on students who are either below functional literacy – defined as a reading age below 9 years and 4 months – or those with a reading age gap of more than 20 months from their chronological age.
Once identified, these students are screened using both the Key Stage 1 phonics screening check, which assesses segmenting and blending skills, and the Lexonik screener, which targets specific sound knowledge. This dual screening helps determine whether students need phonics support and identifies exactly where their gaps lie.
Students then attend two 30-minute phonics sessions per week. These sessions are embedded into the school day and typically take place during their English lessons – often coinciding with dedicated reading time – to minimise disruption to their broader curriculum learning.
Beyond the standalone sessions, phonics is also integrated into mainstream lessons through several strategies:
- Sound buttons are added to reading booklets to support the teaching of key vocabulary.
- Phonics is embedded within the school’s Golden Toolkit, a set of core literacy strategies used with students who benefit from phonics teaching.
- A weekly phonics bulletin for staff, helping teachers incorporate specific phonics sounds into lessons and create classroom opportunities for students to practise reading those sounds in context.
Together, these give us a solid foundation to work from.
What are the biggest challenges you face when delivering phonics instruction to multilingual learners?
One of the biggest challenges is ensuring that task instructions are extremely clear and minimal. With multilingual learners, I often rely on single-word instructions (like “listen” or “repeat”) and hand gestures to maintain clarity.
Using whole-school routines such as “I say… You say” or the “3-2-1 whiteboard” approach also ensures consistency in classroom culture, which helps students feel more confident because they know what to expect and how to participate.
Another challenge (but at the same time a fantastic opportunity to use students’ first languages!) , is the influence of students’ home languages on their understanding of English phonics. For example, a sound like the hard “c” in English might not exist – or might be different – in their first language, such as French. I try to address these misconceptions sensitively, often by explaining explicitly that English has its own phonics rules and that borrowed words (like chef, with its “sh” sound) sometimes retain the pronunciation patterns of their original languages.
I also work with students who are unfamiliar with the Latin script, such as those who read and write in Arabic or Tigrinya. These students must first learn to recognise Latin letters alongside the sounds they represent. To help with this, I provide lots of opportunities to match letters with sounds and to practise saying words that include those sounds. This repeated exposure builds both recognition and confidence over time.
How do you adapt phonics instruction for older students, especially those with varying literacy levels in their first language?
Adapting phonics for older students begins with making resources that are both age-appropriate and accessible. I’ve developed slide presentations that match the school’s visual design but focus on foundational sounds, such as those in the SATPIN group. This helps maintain a sense of curriculum continuity while delivering essential phonics content.
For students with limited literacy in their first language, we begin by focusing on speaking the sounds aloud. I use mirrors so they can see how their mouths, tongues and teeth should be positioned to articulate each sound correctly. Once they’re confident with this, we move on to segmenting and blending sounds to form words. I model this explicitly, showing how grapheme-phoneme correspondences work and how we use them to decode unfamiliar words.
When it comes to writing, we also need to be sensitive to students who may not have developed basic handwriting skills. Some students may struggle to hold a pen or form letters. We treat this as a learning process, offering instruction in a supportive and non-judgemental environment. The goal is to help students feel successful, not embarrassed.
How do you assess progress and decide when a student is ready to move on?
Assessment involves both summative and formative elements. We use Lexonik sound sheets to check students’ individual sound knowledge and the KS1 phonics screening materials to assess their ability to segment and blend sounds. These give us a clear picture of what students know and what they still need to learn.
We also follow a mapped phonics progression pathway. Students begin with the SATPIN group and move through to consonant digraphs and alternative graphemes. They only progress to the next stage once they’ve truly mastered the sounds at their current level.
Continual reinforcement is key. We revisit and repeat sounds frequently to strengthen long-term memory. I make constant formative assessments during sessions- observing how students blend, segment and apply phonics knowledge to high-frequency words. If a student is struggling with a particular sound or blending pattern, I build targeted practice into upcoming lessons.
An important sign that a student is ready to move on is when they can apply phonics knowledge to unfamiliar words- not just words they’ve memorised. I also observe students in their mainstream lessons to see whether they are applying what they’ve learned independently, without prompts or guidance from adults.
How do you balance phonics instruction with vocabulary development, comprehension and subject-specific literacy?
We treat phonics as a tool for accessing vocabulary. Once students are secure in basic decoding, I begin introducing Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary that connects directly to their subject lessons. We start by decoding the words phonetically and then move into exploring meaning and usage.
We also develop sentence-level reading resources that match each student’s phonics ability. These allow them to practise decoding in context and begin developing fluency. Simple comprehension questions tied to these sentences encourage students to think about meaning, not just sound-letter correspondence.
Keeping students in mainstream lessons is essential. Subject teachers are the experts in academic language and they provide invaluable context for how vocabulary is used in real-world subject areas. This immersion in subject-specific language supports literacy development far beyond the phonics sessions.
Once students have secured phonics, we also offer fluency interventions. These include modelled reading, repeated reading, echo reading, choral reading and one-on-one feedback. These strategies help students move beyond decoding and toward fluent, expressive and meaningful reading.
Wrapping Up
Adam Levick’s work at Trinity Academy Leeds highlights the critical role that phonics can play in secondary education. Far from being a remedial add-on, phonics provides the foundational knowledge needed to unlock vocabulary, engage with the curriculum, and develop reading confidence.
By embedding phonics into wider school routines, aligning it with subject-specific vocabulary, and delivering it in a way that is age-appropriate, Adam ensures that students don’t just learn to read – they read to learn. His approach is a valuable model for schools looking to build both the breadth and depth of literacy provision in the secondary phase.
Keen to know more about supporting EAL students? We’ve got you
Join our vibrant community for free to explore what we offer, then upgrade to membership for instant access to our entire library of video courses, resources, guides, training materials and more…
Want to write for Heddle? Our community blogs are written by EAL teachers, for EAL teachers.
Express your interest today. You’ll get full support from our team.
