Last month we wrote about the DfES’s plans to establish a kite mark system for phonics programmes. The DfES is also planning on having its own scheme, available to all schools for free.

Publishers we spoke to said they could see some merit in the proposed vetting system, but while none would go on record publicly, all had serious reservations about the DfES’s decision to be both a regulator and competitor.

This issue shouldn’t worry Ruth Miskin who sold her successful phonics publishing business to Oxford University Press earlier in the year. Her company now specialises in phonics training and recently won a contract to train DfES staff about phonics.

www.ruthmiskinliteracy.com