Education secretary Ruth Kelly said she 'fully endorsed' the findings and that synthetic phonics should be taught as early as possible in schools.
In his report Jim Rose, a former director of inspection at Ofsted who led the review, said, 'The approach which is generally understood as "synthetic phonics" offers the vast majority of young beginners the best route to becoming skilled readers.'
He said the 'searchlights' system, which gives teachers a range of methods when teaching children to read, should be abandoned because many beginner readers find it 'daunting and confusing' and it could divert teachers'
attention from 'their key task in teaching early phonic skills and knowledge', he said.
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