Literacy news
Teachers call for end to reading check for six-year-olds
5 Sep 2012
The survey shows that eighty-six per cent of teachers questioned said the phonics checks should not continue and 91 per cent said that the reading check did not tell them anything new about children’s reading ability. Around two-thirds of Year 1 teachers (63 per cent) said they feared that children’s confidence would be dented if they had to retake the phonics check. They also said that it took up teaching time, took teachers out of the classroom and cost schools money to implement.
Many teachers said that children were confused by made-up words, such as ‘strom’ because they were so similar to real words (storm) and the children thought that they were misprints. Nearly nine in ten teachers practised reading made-up words with their class before the reading check.
Teachers of primary school children of all ages stressed the importance of using a wide range of strategies to teach children to read because children learn in different ways.
The survey was conducted by The Association of Teachers and Lecturers, the National Union of Teachers and the National Association of Head Teachers by questioning 1,700 Year one teachers as part of a wider survey of teachers and heads in primary schools in England.
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