Our Phonics
Program

The same structured phonics program that underpins Wushka’s decodable library is now available as a complete teaching solution. Developed in partnership with Rainbow Phonics, it combines explicit instruction, detailed planning and practical teaching resources.

See our Phonics Teacher Toolkit

A sequenced program to build confident readers by the end of Year 2

Pre-Foundation

Phase 1

Phonemic Awareness

Foundation

Phase 2

Letter Sounds

Phase 3

Phonics

Phase 4

Blends

Year 1

Phase 5

Vowel Sounds

Phase 5.5

Sound Families

Phase 6

Affixes

Year 2

Phase 6

Fluent-Spelling

A complete phonics progression
with no gaps in learning

Unlike many phonics programs that teach only part of the phonics code, Wushka’s comprehensive scope and sequence covers more than 150 grapheme-phoneme correspondences. Every concept is introduced in a logical order, giving students the complete foundation they need to become confident and capable readers.

Phase 1

Phonemic Awareness Speaking & Listening

Wordless Books

Phase 2

Letter Sounds

s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g, o, c, k, ck, e, u, r, h, b, f, ff, l, ll, ss

Phase 3

Phonics

j, v, w, x, y, z, zz, qu, ch, sh, th, ng, ai, ee, igh, oa, oi, oo, ow, ar, air, ear, er, ur, or, ure

Phase 4

Blends

st, nd, mp, nt, nk, ft, sk, lt, lp, lf, lk, pt, xt, tr, dr, gr, cr, br, fr, bl, fl, gl, pl, cl, sl, sp, sw, tw, sn, pr, sc, sn, nch, scr, shr, spr, str, thr

Phase 5

Vowel Sounds

ay, ou, ie, ea, oy, ir, ue, aw, wh, ph, ew, oe, au, ey, a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e, /zh/

Phase 5.5

Sound Families

/ai/ /ee/ /igh/ /oa/ /oo/ /y-oo/ /ir/ /n/ /m/ /ch/ /k/ /sh/ /j/ /v/ /u/ /e/ /i/ /s/ /zh/ /z/ /ar/ /or/ /ur/ /air/ /ear/

Phase 6

Affixes
Fluent-Spelling

-s, -es, -ing, -ed, -ful, -er, -est, -en, -y, -ly

Try it for Free

The Brain-Based Model That Underpins Our Program

Great phonics instruction starts with understanding how the brain learns to read.
Developed from the research of cognitive neuroscientist and educator Dr Duncan Milne, Wushka’s scope and sequence reflects the way reading develops in the brain. Each phase builds on the last, ensuring students develop the decoding skills, language knowledge and automaticity needed for lifelong reading success.

Bring Wushka’s phonics program to life

See how the Wushka Phonics Teaching Toolkit delivers every lesson and how the Decodable Library provides perfectly aligned reading practice.

See the Phonics Teaching Toolkit

Discover our decodables

Heroes Who Have Helped
to Bring You
Wushka Phonics

Anna Kirschberg

She wrote the decodable books!

Through Wushka’s valued partnership with Beanstalk Books, students and teachers gain access to one of the world’s largest collections of decodable texts, designed to support both beginning readers and older struggling readers. Children’s author and founder of Beanstalk Books, Anna Kirschberg, has spent more than a decade developing phonics-based resources and building the beloved library of decodable books featured on Wushka today.

Demand from teachers has been high, and the decodable range has extended to over 650 titles in just the last few years. This decodable library is a cornerstone of Wushka’s phonics program, and we consider it a privilege to call our library home to Anna’s world-leading readers.

Duncan Milne

He developed Wushka’s phonics program!

When we say the Wushka’s phonics program is science-based, we mean it – Rainbow Phonics pioneer Duncan Milne has dedicated his life to neuro-education and understanding how the brain works when it comes to learning how to read. With a Ph.D in cognitive neuroscience, Duncan has published numerous books and journal articles in the field and is largely recognised as a thought leader in this space. He was the keynote opening speaker for the World Dyslexia Forum in Paris at UNESCO and also served as an honorary board member for Dyslexia International and as their Director of Tools for Learning.

We have been honoured to work with Duncan in bringing Rainbow Phonics and Wushka together!

Jessica Farmer

She’s a teacher who endorses the mission!

Jessica is a teacher, Science of Reading advocate and educational influencer with more than 350,000 Instagram followers (@farmerlovesphonics). She holds a bachelor’s degree from Florida International University and began her Science of Reading journey in 2020. Jessica has completed both LETRS for Early Childhood and Comprehensive IMSE Orton-Gillingham training, and is passionate about making evidence-based reading instruction accessible and effective for every learner. Through her teaching, training and online community, she continues to support and inspire educators around the world.