A pioneering teacher from Solihull has become an internet sensation after helping almost a million people around the world to read.

Christopher Thorne made a series of spelling videos for pupils which he posted on YouTube.

But what started out as a tool for pupils, parents and teaching staff has turned into a worldwide phenomenon, with people logging on from as far afield as Brazil and the US for the classes on “phonics”, which use the sounds of groups of letter to help with reading and writing.

The Mr Thorne Does Phonics videos, which often feature his puppy Sophie and Geraldine the giraffe, have now been viewed 835,000 times.

The videos have proved so successful Mr Thorne, 27, has been offered the opportunity to produce teaching tools for classrooms and make his own DVD.

“The response has been great,” said Mr Thorne, a former pupil at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys. “I’ve made 240 videos and I’ll keep making them as long as children and adults find them useful.

“It started off as a few tutorials for parents and for teachers, as I found that there was a big difference in the way children were being taught how to read at school and in the home.

“The first video I made was me doing the alphabet and six or seven months later, it had around 250,000 hits on YouTube. I realised there was a market for people wanting to watch the videos.

“There’s lots of plate spinning at the moment, but its really about waiting to see what the New Year brings.”

The success of Mr Thorne Does Phonics comes after Government plans were announced in November for all six-year-olds to be tested on reading skills.

Ministers want primary schools to focus on teaching children to read using phonics and said the tests would help identify those “falling behind”.

The tests, which will be piloted later this year, come as Government figures show one in six of seven-year-old children and nearly one in five 11-year-olds fail to reach the level expected for their age group in reading.

The Government has now begun a consultation to ask parents and education professionals for their views on how the test should work.

Following his success on YouTube, Mr Thorne has since created an eponymous website with free reading support for children, parents, teachers and anyone with English as a second language.

This new site had 60,000 hits in its first month alone and Mr Thorne’s videos are now being used in classrooms and homes around the world.

He said: “I receive emails from people, including a woman in New York whose daughter has special educational needs, and from someone who teaches a class of adults learning English in Brazil. It has global appeal and has really taken off.”

For more information, visit mrthornedoesphonics.tv or youtube.com/user/breakthruchris