What is the best way
to teach fundamental
reading skills?
or practical guidance?
What is the best way
to teach fundamental
reading skills?
or practical guidance?
Welcome to the Reading Reform Foundation (RRF)
We are dedicated to improving the teaching of fundamental reading and writing skills in the United Kingdom and beyond.
Our mission is to ensure that everyone, regardless of their background or abilities*, can learn to read through the most effective evidence-based teaching methods.
Whether you are a teacher, a parent, a leader in education or anyone else interested in the teaching of reading, this website is for you.
What is the RRF?
Why are we needed?
What do we do?
Who are we?
Our mission
Our approach is grounded in extensive research, demonstrating that knowledge of letter-sound correspondences, combined with automatic sounding out and blending skills, are key to word reading. Understanding language is essential too, but it is impossible to understand the language in a text without first reading the words.
When children can read words and understand language, their learning expands rapidly. In contrast, those who cannot read words easily and accurately cannot get started and soon fall behind, often withdrawing or behaving disruptively.
Then the ‘Matthew effect’ sets in:
Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
Our mission is to inform and support teachers, parents, and others, in their efforts to teach fundamental reading skills as effectively as possible, so that no one suffers from this ‘Matthew effect’.
Empowering Educators
and Parents
Educators and parents often struggle with conflicting advice or too little guidance on teaching reading, leading to frustration when children fall behind.
At the RRF, we understand these challenges and their impact on teachers’ and learners’ confidence. That’s why we offer relevant information, expert advice, and a supportive community.
News & Discussion
Wales’s Literacy Plans Must Change
Elizabeth Nonweiler has stepped down from the Welsh Government’s Expert Literacy Panel, raising serious concerns about the direction of national literacy policy. In a public letter to the Cabinet Secretary for Education, she warns that the newly announced £8.2 million...
What can systematic synthetic phonics do for you?
Whether you are the Department for Education, a school or a parent you may find your answer here. As an Educational Psychologist I’ve spent much of my career fascinated by dyslexia and the struggles some children face when learning to read. I’d like to tell you...
Jamie Oliver’s Dyslexia Campaign
Here is a letter from the RRF to Jamie Oliver, in response to his important campaign advocating for improved education and support for those with dyslexia. The Reading Reform Foundation Dear Jamie Oliver, Thank you for advocating for children who have had difficulty...