I’m Miss Emma, a Level 7 SEN Specialist Teacher who is herself neurodivergent. As a doctoral researcher, I am fascinated by the reasons why both students who are trying to connect letters and sounds, and teachers who are trying to support those learners, especially those who struggle, find word mapping so difficult.

What decisions do teachers make when mapping words for and with children? Do they map according to the training they have received, their beliefs about phonics, their own accents, or their students’ pronunciation? What is accurate word mapping? Who decides?

Until teachers are given a clear strategy to map words for children while they still need support, before they can connect letters and sounds in a way that works for their reading and spelling brains, the help they receive may continue to be hit or miss.