"[Sue Palmer's Synthetic Phonix] (Sets 1 and 2) were used with a range of children of different abilities from Reception to Year 2. I would use it in supported groups led by teaching assistants or as an independent activity for older children. The teacher's notes were very useful and the bag is an excellent storage idea. The use of colours for the different cubes is excellent and the children thoroughly enjoyed the practical nature of the task rather than the writing.
Sue Palmer's Synthetic Phonix is particularly beneficial to children who find recording a struggle because it allows us to embed the concept rather than stress over the writing."
Sally Boulton,
Head Teacher, Haigh Road School, Rothwell, Leeds

"I already use Phonix as a classroom resource and welcome the Synthetic Phonix update as our school policy is that we now teach skills for reading, writing and spelling using this approach.
I would use the bag daily as a small part of my phonics 'input' and as a resource during the rest of the day in independent work. Using both bags would enable all abilities to have the same kinaesthetic approach for blending in KS1, but I wouldn't envisage there being much need for teacher intervention as it would have been used/demonstrated/modelled adequately in Foundation using Bag 1.
The mix of components is also good...and for my purposes the cost per bag is definately value for money."
Liz Broadbent,
Deputy Head/Literacy Manager, Balksbury Infant School, Andover, Hants

"We used Sue Palmer's Synthetic Phonix with some lower juniors who still have problems with phonics. It was useful and the small booklet was helpful too...The KS1 classes like the cubes and cards in particular. I think the work can be either set up as groupwork with the teacher or as independent work - ie if sensory cards/words are set up for the child to use beforehand.
It's a good assessment tool too - ie to check on whether they really are learning the difference between the vowel sound and consonant digraphs. I also like the bag idea - this saves me finding bags/boxes etc."
Mrs V Slater,
Deputy Head, Andover C of E Primary School, Andover

"[Sue Palmer's Synthetic Phonix] is crystal clear. The teacher's notes are fantastic. I like the informal style and the fact that it is obviously instructing at the same time as giving information about the product. I especially like all the reference to the balance between structure and fun and the comment that other activities can be drawn from other resources. The fact that the phonemes are on the cubes means that an investigative element is added which moves into writing much more readily. I thought the idea of magic spells was a great way to deal with the problems."
Ann Webley,
Literacy Author and Consultant

"I used Sue Palmer's Synthetic Phonix with children aged 5-9 at my centre. Some of the children are attending for extra tuition because they are on the SEN register at school. Four of the children I used the resources with were aged 7-8.
I thought the bags were attractive. The children liked the fact that they were picking out sounds rather than having the usual sorting trays to work from. The teacher's booklet with ideas is excellent and it gives you ideas to extend or enrich sentence level work.
I didn't use this resource with a group of more than four, but I could see myself using it with a group of up to eight children of a similar ability. I could also see it being used as a whole class starter activity. I found that although this activity is geared to a 20 minute session - 30 minutes was not too long as it was fun for the children. The children I used it with all need teacher input to succeed.
We made up little books of sound based on the work which the children really liked and also made paper cubes with the sound on and the children then drew a visual reminder eg ch = chair, oo = moon.
I will buy this resource to use at my centre to support 5-9 year olds and also SEN students. I think the cost of £6.99 is affordable - and I would imagine schools might buy enough for a whole class working in small groups."
Samantha Craig,
Centre Director of Kip Mcgrath Education, Walken