'Time-limited' teaching of phonics

Why the Government is wrong about advocating a time-limited approach to phonics teaching (Part II).

John

In the last posting, I stated that about thirty to thirty-five percent of children of the sample (average age 7 years and three to four months) I was talking about were not yet more than two years above their chronological age. However, only between two and six percent were below their chronological age.Is the two… Continue reading Why the Government is wrong about advocating a time-limited approach to phonics teaching (Part II).

'Time-limited' teaching of phonics

Why the Government is wrong about a ‘time-limited’ approach to phonics teaching (Part I).

John

The question of how long pupils in school should be taught phonics before explicit teaching is dropped is one that has exercised teaching practitioners ever since the expression ‘time limited’ was coined in the Rose review.Since then, many phonics advocates have suggested variously that teaching should conclude at the end of YR, Y1 and Y2.… Continue reading Why the Government is wrong about a ‘time-limited’ approach to phonics teaching (Part I).

Hart and Risley · learning to talk · YouGov

Girl and boy talk

John1 Comment

A survey, commissioned by the ‘Communication Champion’ Jean Gross, has just revealed that, apparently, nearly one in six children has difficulty learning to talk. How the word ‘difficulty’ is defined is not made clear, though in any population, one would expect there to be a quantifiable number of children who make relatively slower progress in… Continue reading Girl and boy talk

Boyd Tonkin · Gabriela Gruder-Poni · PGCE

‘The Reader Gets Angry’

John

On the Reading Reform Foundation website, Geraldine Carter has posted a link to a piece, ‘The Reader Gets Angry: Scenes from a PGCE‘, by Gabriella Gruder-Poni on her experiences as a PGCE student.The experiences Gabriella recounts are nothing short of a disgrace and, if her testimony is true, the imbeciles dispensing the advice she was… Continue reading ‘The Reader Gets Angry’

Minetter Marrin · Our Right to Read · Sounds-Write · Sunday Times

Above all, do no harm. And, if you are a primary teacher, teach the children to read!

John3 Comments

In the year’s last issue of the Sunday Times, Minette Marrin has some timely advice for us. Did I say, ‘for us’? I meant ‘on our behalf’. It addresses a number of important issues – get out of Afghanistan and Iraq – and a variety of people: to Peter Mandelson – ‘Stop talking’; to Harriet… Continue reading Above all, do no harm. And, if you are a primary teacher, teach the children to read!

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Newsnight review on BBC2: lets hear it for the kidults!

John2 Comments

In case you missed the BBC2 Newsnight programme last night (Friday 11th December), the guests were Anthony Horowitz, Michael Bywater, David Schneider and Bidisha (Mukherjee). Newly released films under discussion were Where the Wild Things Are and The Fantastic Mr Fox, and the adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s novel Nation at the National. There were reviews… Continue reading Newsnight review on BBC2: lets hear it for the kidults!

SATs 2009 · Sounds-Write report

Further decline in SATs scores evidence that this government has run out of ideas.

John2 Comments

What did yesterday’s SATs news tell us that we didn’t already know? The results show a decline in performance, with more than 1400 primary schools falling below the government’s so-called ‘floor target’ for attainment in maths and English. What’s the government’s response? According to the BBC’s education correspondent, Gary Eason, it wants ‘local authorities to… Continue reading Further decline in SATs scores evidence that this government has run out of ideas.

Diane Ravitch · evidence-based research · Thomas Fordham Institute

‘What if Research Really Mattered?’

John

I’ve been wondering for ages how to blog something by Diane Ravitch, research professor in New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. Well, there is something I’ve always quite liked, something she wrote on evidence-based research just over ten years ago. Surrounded by a medical team in an intensive care unit,… Continue reading ‘What if Research Really Mattered?’