News
Phonics test: NUT may ballot on boycott
10 Apr 2012
A teachers' union has voted to ballot for a boycott of a new phonics reading test if its results are used in league tables.
The new "phonics check" for five and six-year-olds is due to begin in England's schools this June. The Government says it will help identify children who need extra help.
At its annual conference, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) attacked the test, saying it risked making failures of five-year-olds.
There had been calls for a ballot on a boycott of the tests in general, but they were dropped. Instead, union delegates agreed to campaign against the tests and to ballot for a boycott should the check be used "in any kind of league table".
This year's tests will not be affected.
The Government has said the results will not be put in to league tables but teaching unions fear they could be in the future.
Results from SATs taken by 11-year-olds are used by media organisations to draw up primary school league tables, which many within teaching unions loathe.
Some fear the phonics reading test may be used in the same way in the future. Union leaders say the test will not tell teachers anything new.
NUT General Secretary, Christine Blower, said the check would not be good for pupils:
Five years old is too young to fail. They will know that they have not got it right and we think that will be demoralising.
The reading checks will be run in England's schools in June and are expected to take five to 10 minutes. Children at the end of Year 1 will be asked to read 20 words and 20 "made-up words" such as "zog" or "vot" to their teachers.
The check is aimed at measuring whether pupils have a good understanding of phonics - the sounds of letters and groups of letters - which the Government says is the key to helping children to read.
In reality, all schools use phonics to teach children to read, but the Government says this should be done more systematically.
Teachers say they should be trusted to use their judgement to use a range of techniques suited to their pupils.
See the full story at the BBC.
