Here is a powerful blog post by Teaching Battle Ground explaining how weak the evidence of teaching children to read with alternative or mixed methods as opposed to Synthetic Phonics. http://teachingbattleground.wordpress.com/2013/08/19/the-latest-iteration-of-the-phonics-debate/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
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Reading Recovery failing disadvantaged pupils in New Zealand
A report on the failure of Reading Recovery to help the most disadvantaged children in New Zealand has just been published by Massey University Professors James Chapman and Bill Turner. If it is failing children in New Zealand why are teachers still using it here? http://nzinitiative.org.nz/Media/Insights/x_post/reading-into-reading-recovery-00231.html#.UgRLSzY1fo8.twitte Thanks to Susan Godsland from www.dyslexics.org.uk for flagging this up.
Read MoreWhat they tell you on Teacher Training
Below is an excerpt from a post on Scenes from the Battleground – an excellent blog. Thank you. When I finished my teacher training, I knew nothing about teaching children to read. I don’t think I was the only one. This excerpt below sounded rather familiar: Lies, Damned Lies and Things You are Told During […]
Read More100% success in the Y1 Phonics Check – what are the secret ingredients?
Recent results of the Year 1 Phonics Check show that schools in deprived communities can do as well as, if not better than, schools in leafy suburbs. Take St George’s, a school in Wandsworth, which reported 100% success in the Y1 Phonics Check this year. This school is situated in a challenging catchment area. What […]
Read MoreFirst results of Y1 Phonics Check. Great results for Sounds-Write!
The Literacy Blog has posted the first results of the Y1 Phonics check. Great results for Sounds-Write! Our books follow the Sounds-Write phonic progression and are used by St George’s – a school in a deprived area in the borough of Wandsworth in London. Despite the deprivation of the catchment area, the school has excelled in the phonics check for […]
Read MoreWhy is the three-cueing (searchlight) reading system still being practiced?
Thanks to Susan Godsland of www.dyslexics.org.uk for flagging up this comprehensive article by Kerry Hempenstall Ph.D on how the three-cueing (searchlight) reading system has become so a prevalent in schools and teacher training to this day, despite the fact that it is not evidence based. In fact, it is ideologically based and can do irreparable damage to children who have not been […]
Read MoreWhy English Spelling sucks… 10 point explanation for kids
Thanks to Geraldine Carter for flagging up this really useful explanation – another great blogpost from Spelfabet. http://www.spelfabet.com.au/2013/07/spelling-for-kids/
Read MoreWhy is Continuous Professional Development important and what makes it effective?
Quality Continuous Professional Development are one of the proven ways for raising standards in our schools. So many times one has been to inset days that have left no impact and have not changed the way we teach. Here is a great post by Joe Kirby why CPD is important and what is effective CPD. http://pragmaticreform.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/cpd/
Read MoreThe Great Phonics Check Debate
This week pupils in Y1 will undergo the phonics check. Here are the two sides to the debate. http://www.phonicsinternational.com/screener_debate.pdf
Read MoreMaladministration of phonics check- what not to do!
The DfE published this document in April about not cheating when administering the phonics check. http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/assessment/keystage1/a00224454/phon-malad Interesting that teachers need reminding….
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