A More Complete View of Reading: SCAN is the Core Principle
SCAN empowers us to focus on using spoken language to point out real people and real things — the first and most powerful purpose of speech.
Socially Contextual Applied Naming (SCAN) is an evidence-informed, biological process and cognitive function underlying spoken language and literacy. It is the real-world act of pointing out real people, objects and places, in a shared social context, using speech. This allows spoken language to scaffold into comprehension, and early language development to align with literacy milestones.
How SCAN Works
SCAN uses common sense to unify:
• Phonetics — hearing and distinguishing speech sounds
• Speech Production — producing those sounds correctly
• Naming — tying a spoken word to an object or person
• Social Interaction — joint attention
• Experience — grounding oral language in real-life settings
Naming vs. Phonics
If phonics breaks spoken words into sounds, naming makes those sounds mean something.
• Phonics: C / A / R
• Naming: “CAR” = a real or imaginary car 🚗
Without naming, decoding remains abstract.
Why SCAN Matters in Education
By naming real people and real things, children naturally scaffold oracy into literacy and bridge:
• Oral language
• Literacy comprehension
• Phonics
Who Will We See?
Who Will We See? is a state-of-the-art print and play-based shared-reading routine grounded in equitable participation, with built-in RfP pedagogy: reader identity and delight. It supports early spoken language and scaffolds oracy into literacy for all children, including SEND and EAL.
In order for children to read globally, with automaticity and comprehension, children necessarily must apply the SCAN principle. Who Will We See? is a storybook which empowers them to do so.
Why Integrate Who Will We See?
• Proactive and protective intervention
Supports early oral language production and literacy comprehension without delaying phonics.
• Interactive social routine
Sequences a natural name-learning activity that empowers the existing workforce to model engaging in conversation and naturally extend dialogue.
• Built-in Reading-for-Pleasure pedagogy
Embeds RfP through reader identity, delight, shared participation and meaningful naming.
• Universal and multifaceted
Prodigy-ready yet EAL and SEND-inclusive, 10 months–6 years. Tailored, highly accessible, anti-bias, culturally neutral, and designed to build identity and belonging.
• Wider developmental value
Subtly cultivates emerging metacognition, executive function, cognition, Personal Social-Emotional Development, and numeracy.
• Supports transition
Helps children move from home to nursery, preschool to reception. No specialist training required — just set up and read daily as part of your induction routine.
• Evidence-informed and easy to use
Integrates the latest empirical and consensus evidence in early education in a structured and accessible way.
SCAN Professional Development
SCAN, SCAN P.D. & WHO WILL WE SEE?
An Implementation-Ready Theory of Change, Professional Development (P.D.) Model & Matched Classroom Resource
• SCAN defines the mechanism.
• SCAN P.D. is the change in adult behaviour to enact SCAN.
• WHO WILL WE SEE? integrates it & operationalises it in the classroom.
Together, they translate converging evidence from developmental science, cognitive science, speech and language research, and early literacy into a small, tightly defined set of high-leverage interaction behaviours that can be implemented consistently and monitored reliably.
SCAN P.D.
Not just a one-off training session. It is a structured implementation model embedded into daily classroom routine, designed to move from training to practice, to monitoring & refinement.
It focuses on a tightly defined set of observable, evidence-aligned behaviours (the active ingredients):
◆ Establishing joint attention through guided shared attention
◆ Using contingent adult–child turns
◆ Applying calibrated expectant pauses
◆ Keeping prompts low in cognitive load
◆ Ensuring inclusive participation (including SEND/EAL), with non-verbal responses scaffolded toward spoken production
◆ Explicitly applying SCAN’s core principle: naming real people and real things
These behaviours are rehearsed daily within a predictable: Ask, Wait, Reveal, Child Turn shared-reading routine.
Implementation is supported by:
● Brief micro-training cycles
● Scripted guidance
● Explicit modelling
● Built-in fidelity checks (e.g., child-turn counts, strictly silent child counts, on-cue naming, participation parity)
● Regular revisit and refinement to support long-term habit formation
This is deliberate practice with monitoring.
WHO WILL WE SEE? efficiently operationalises SCAN P.D.
It is a personalised lift-the-flap storybook that enables children to enact SCAN’s core principle — using spoken language to point to real people and real things. Through names, photos and guided play, the routine makes early reading:
■ Socially meaningful
■ Emotionally salient
■ Developmentally aligned
■ Inclusive by design
■ Identity-affirming & participation-equalising
It remains low-cost, scalable and easy to implement with fidelity.
The Theory of Change
■ More equitable participation.
■ More spoken language turns.
■ Fewer strictly silent children.
■ More identity-linked language production.
■ Earlier initiation of speech before referral thresholds are triggered.
These shifts strengthen oral-language foundations — supporting later phonics and literacy development without delaying systematic phonics instruction, as an upstream, preventative and complementary approach to specialist provision — not a replacement for it.
Who Will We See? ® 