Dr Ros Fisher, reader in literacy education at the University of Plymouth, and her colleagues Dr Maureen Lewis and Bernie Davis were commissioned by the Economic and Social Research Council to explore how teachers in small schools implemented the literacy hour.
They found that teachers of mixed age classes did not find the national literacy strategy as hard to implement as they had expected, while the children enjoyed the books read, gained in critical vocabulary, became more focused and responded well to the new routines.
While teachers with two year groups in a class found that the mixed-age groups did not present a problem, those with three or four year groups found planning to suit such a broad range of ability difficult. However, the children's progress was not affected and there were some encouraging examples of children experimenting with aspects of literacy that the older children had been working on.
The researchers also found that children who scored less well in standardised literacy tests at the beginning of the school year made most progress during the course of the year.
In a report published in the autumn issue of the National Foundation for Educational Research publication NFER Topic, 'The Implementation of the Literacy Hour in Small Rural Schools', the researchers suggest that the NLS has introduced a number of approaches seen in more successful classrooms, such as the range of texts used, increased use of metalanguage (for example comma, adjective), and increased awareness of the pace of the lesson.
When the teachers who took part were asked for advice to pass on to others in small schools, they stressed that reception children needed to be able to take part in play-based activities, and that younger children enjoyed trying out things they had seen older groups do.
