JOLLY STUDY SQUARE

Jolly Phonics Teacher Training

Practical Jolly Phonics and Jolly Literacy training with Atsuko Maruyama, a Jolly Phonics & Jolly Literacy Official Trainer. Choose a format for your school team, your own teaching or learning at home.

For schools and organisations

School training

Tailored content for your curriculum and team.

Explore school training

For individual participants

Public workshops

Explore foundations or a particular teaching topic.

Explore public workshops

LEARNING TOGETHER

For your students. For your team. For your community.

Atsuko Maruyama demonstrating a phonics action during a lesson at a private secondary school — An example of a student lesson in a school setting.

STUDENT LESSONS AT YOUR SCHOOL

Phonics lessons for students at your school

Atsuko visits your school to teach Jolly Phonics directly to students. Drawing on classroom experience, including lessons at a private secondary school, she plans around prior learning and current reading and writing skills as well as age.

Example: a three-day intensive programme

Day 1Connect letters and sounds
Day 2Practise blending and segmenting
Day 3Apply taught sounds to reading and writing

This is an illustrative sequence, adjusted to lesson time and prior learning. It does not promise mastery of all 42 sounds or a particular outcome in three days.

A briefing or workshop for your teachers can follow the student lessons, connecting the intensive programme with everyday classroom practice.

Discuss student lessons

Atsuko Maruyama explaining with a phonics chart and teaching-sequence slide at Moriyama Library

Seminars for educators & families

Explore learning differences, dyslexia, child development and language growth. Experience includes a seminar on child development and language at a private nursery. Content is planned around the questions of your staff or families.

Discuss a seminar topic →

Atsuko Maruyama explaining a projected slide at the 28th Tottori Prefectural Library Conference

Invite Atsuko to speak

Invite Atsuko to a school, nursery, library or education event. Discuss a theme in English literacy, learning differences or practical teaching. Talks can include demonstrations and participatory workshop activities.

Enquire about a speaking engagement →

Training at a glance

Who it is for: School teams, teachers and parents
Language: English or Japanese
Format: School training or public workshops
Dates, duration & fees: Confirmed after discussing your needs and the training scope.

Enquire about training

WHAT YOU CAN WORK ON

Connect the approach to everyday teaching.

Explain the sounds

Explore letter sounds, actions and multisensory demonstrations.

Build reading & writing

Practise blending, segmenting and letter formation, then plan the next teaching steps.

Respond to your learners

Discuss pacing, materials and checks for understanding in your teaching context.

Topics are selected to suit the workshop or agreed training scope. Jolly Literacy training can also be discussed.

FROM REAL CLASSROOMS

Training informed by real lessons.

Selected lessons at a private secondary school in Japan. Experience of combining actions, print and materials in front of learners provides a practical foundation for Atsuko’s Jolly Phonics teacher training.

Atsuko Maruyama using a hand action during a Jolly Phonics lesson at a private secondary school in Japan — Connecting sounds with actions
A selected Jolly Phonics lesson at a private secondary school in Japan, using a hand action to illustrate a sound. Explanations and resources are adapted to learners’ ages and experience.

Atsuko Maruyama pointing to letters and sound markers on a board at a private secondary school — Making sound–letter connections visible
Using written letters and sound markers on the board, giving learners a visual way to follow the relationship between sounds and spelling.

See more teaching and training photographs

What you will learn

Jolly Phonics

The background of literacy instruction and systematic phonics
The 42 letter sounds, actions and letter–sound relationships
The five basic skills of Jolly Phonics
Planning a lesson and using activities at home or in class
Alternative vowel spellings and magic-e
Moving from phonics to reading small books

Jolly Literacy

Reviewing Jolly Phonics and alternative vowel spellings
The curriculum and teaching materials
Parts of speech, actions and colour coding
Activities for home and classroom use
Practising dictation and independent writing

OFFICIAL TRAINING · EVERYDAY PRACTICE

Jolly Phonics & Jolly Literacy Official Trainer

Our Jolly Phonics and Jolly Literacy trainers are experienced teaching professionals who use these resources in everyday lessons. Drawing on more than ten years of teaching, we share classroom practice and learning through training for teachers, parents and students, supporting children’s English reading and writing in Japan. Our trainers are recognised and approved by Jolly Learning in the UK.

ATSUKO MARUYAMA · PROFILE

Opening up possibilities through learning.

In the classroom since 2007.

After ten years in the United States, Atsuko Maruyama (Maru) founded I’s English School in Tokyo in 2007. She teaches learners from age two to adulthood, using Jolly Phonics, Jolly Literacy and Jolly English in her own classrooms. Her teaching connects English with expressing ideas and taking action, with activities suited to each learner’s age and experience.

Official training grounded in daily teaching.

As a Jolly Phonics & Jolly Literacy Official Trainer, Atsuko delivers teacher training in English and Japanese. More than ten years of teaching inform her demonstrations of letter–sound relationships, blending, spelling and writing. Sessions connect the approach with Japanese-speaking learners’ needs, original activities and practical checks for understanding.

Connecting materials and teaching since 2015.

Atsuko established Jolly Study Square in 2015 as an official distributor of Jolly Phonics materials. Her roles in distribution and teaching connect resource selection with classroom use. Discuss levels, purposes, budgets and combinations of materials with someone who also understands how to teach with them.

A responsive approach to literacy difficulties.

Atsuko teaches children with dyslexia and other developmental or learning needs, within and beyond her own school. She considers where each learner needs support and adapts explanations, practice and materials. Her work includes talks for schools and educational organisations, NPO EDGE and libraries, sharing practical approaches to English literacy support.

Bringing Japanese classroom experience to international conversations.

Over many years, Atsuko has built relationships with Sue Lloyd, Sara Wernham, founder Chris Jolly and Jolly Learning. At trainers’ conferences and other exchanges, she has shared perspectives on English education in Japan, progress and challenges in her own school, and experience from training international-school teachers. This is a two-way exchange: learning from international practice and contributing Japanese classroom experience.

Explore I’s English School

OFFICIAL TRAINER + OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTOR

Resources and teaching.
Connected by experience.

Atsuko Maruyama is a Jolly Phonics & Jolly Literacy Official Trainer and runs JSS as an official distributor. Her experience connects resource information with what happens in a classroom or at home.

01International exchange
Publisher, authors and fellow educators
02Local classroom experience
Daily teaching and staff training
03Choose, teach and review
Connected resource and teaching advice

Explore Atsuko’s experience and the JSS approach

TEACHING IN PRACTICE

See it. Try it. Teach it.

Selected demonstrations from Atsuko Maruyama’s talks and training, showing teaching materials and explanations in practice.

Atsuko Maruyama demonstrating a teaching activity with a mouse puppet — See teaching materials in action.
Explore practical ways to bring puppets and other teaching materials into a lesson.

Atsuko Maruyama holding up a pen to demonstrate hand movements during training — Follow the movement, step by step.
Demonstrations make movements, such as those used in letter formation, easier to follow.

Atsuko Maruyama using “at” and coloured magnets on a whiteboard to explain sounds and letters — Make sounds and letters visible.
A training example showing how letters and magnets can help explain the relationship between sounds and writing.

TEACHER TRAINING · IN PRACTICE

Making sounds and letters visible.

A selected example of training led by Atsuko Maruyama. Board work and practical demonstrations explore the relationship between English sounds and letters, making it easier to see how explanations can support children’s understanding.

Atsuko Maruyama pointing to “boat” and its sound markers during training at Miyagi University of Education — **Jolly Phonics training at Miyagi University of Education**Exploring the relationship between English sounds and letters through board work and demonstrations.

Official Jolly Phonics trainer badge, 2026 — **Jolly Phonics training at Miyagi University of Education**Exploring the relationship between English sounds and letters through board work and demonstrations.

What happens after you enquire?

Tell us your learner ages, setting, preferred language and group size. We will discuss the content and confirm dates, fees and any travel arrangements before you book.

Send a training enquiry

Full details & reference information

Retained reference text from the existing site. Dates, prices and historical statements do not establish current availability or terms. Source page ↗

TRAINING & WORKSHOPS

Up-Coming Training & Workshops

Next Events:

Other Upcoming Training & Events

On-Site Training for Schools

For schools and educational organizations that want training for their entire staff, we offer onsite training where an accredited Jolly Phonics Professional Trainer will come to your school or educational institution to teach your staff the fundamentals of Jolly Phonics and Jolly Literacy.

Training will cover the 5 skills of Jolly Phonics, give practical activity ideas for the classroom and the training can be tailored to show teachers how Jolly Phonics and Jolly Literacy can be built into your schools existing curriculum.

Register For Training

Please tell us your full name, your email, which training/workshop you'd like to attend, and dates and times you'd be interested in training.

Our Accredited Trainers

Our professional Jolly Phonics & Jolly Literacy trainers are all experienced English teachers that use Jolly Phonics & Jolly Literacy on a daily basis. They have been teaching Jolly Phonics and Jolly Literacy for over ten years with great results and are excited to share their experiences with other teachers, parents and students around Japan. All trainers are accredited Professional Trainers with Jolly Learning, UK.

Our Trainers

Atsuko Maruyama

Atsuko also teaches English to children with dyslexia and other developmental and learning difficulties, and has found that the synthetic phonic approach that Jolly Phonics is based on is exactly the type of support her students need. Additionally, she co-founded Jolly Study Square, an official distributor of Jolly Learning materials, in 2015 and has experience trying all the materials in the Jolly Phonics and Jolly Literacy lines.

Through her many years of teaching experience, she can show you how to bring Jolly Phonics to life with children of all ages and abilities.

LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR CLASSROOM

What would make a difference
in your classroom?

Tell us about your teaching needs. We’ll help you explore the right training.