An Ofsted report, The National Literacy Strategy - The first four years 1998 -2002, published last week, revealed that the overall attainment of 11-year-olds in English has not changed since 2000, with only 75 per cent reaching the level expected for their age this year, rather than the Government's 80 per cent target. Results in reading fell in 2002 for the second year running and it is now unlikely the Government will meet its targets for 2004.
Chief inspector David Bell said the Government needed to improve children's grounding in phonics, an approach that teaches them to associate letters of the alphabet with sounds. 'If you get phonics right at an early stage, you are less likely to have to deal with difficulties later,' he added.
The report said that while there had been a 'marked shift' in teachers'
attitudes to the place of phonics in teaching reading and spelling, they are still failing to give enough emphasis to the application of phonic skills during shared reading in the reception year and Key Stage One. It concluded, 'The guidance from the National Literacy Strategy on how to teach phonics was not helpful enough in enabling teachers to teach phonic knowledge and skills systematically and speedily from reception onward.'
Mr Bell called for the DfES to review the different official documents on phonics and incorporate them into a single coherent framework, adding that commercial publishers of phonics guidance could also provide insights on the best way forward.
But early years consultant Marian Whitehead said she suspected the resurgence of emphasis on phonics was a 'diversion' being used to 'shore up the weaknesses of the strategy' and that children could not make much sense of traditional phonics training before the later phase of Key Stage 1.
'English is not a phonologically regular language, so a reliance on phonics will let young readers down,' she said.
The report praised the support given by teaching assistants, whom it said showed a 'marked improvement since the first year of the strategy', and highlighted the quality of teaching in reception. But it also said weak leadership from headteachers affected the strategy's implementation in one in ten primary schools.
The report is available free from www.ofsted.gov.ukor 0700 263 7633.
