Literacy news
Department for Education announces funding for synthetic phonics
6 Apr 2011
Schools Minister Nick Gibb today announced a matched funding scheme to help primary schools teach systematic synthetic phonics. From September primary schools will be able to claim up to £3,000, if they match that funding, to spend on materials which meet the Department for Education’s criteria for an effective phonics programme.
The move is designed to support the phonics-based screening check for six-year-olds that the Government is planning to introduce. The check will be piloted in a representative sample of about 300 schools in June. Evidence from the pilot and other policy advice will be considered before the assessment arrangements are finalised.
Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:
This match-funding will mean all schools with six-year-old pupils will be able to buy approved products and training to help them teach high-quality systematic synthetic phonics.
There is more to reading than phonics. But high-quality academic evidence from across the world – from Scotland and Australia to the National Reading Panel in the US – shows that the systematic teaching of synthetic phonics is the best way to teach literacy to all children, and especially those aged five to seven.
Learning to read is a fundamental part of a child’s education and vital to their prospects in secondary school, further and higher education, and work. The new phonics check will ensure that children who need extra help are given the support they need to enable them to enjoy a lifetime’s love of reading.
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