Letters

I have an anecdote about Chris Athey that I would like to share(Learning and Development, 13 December-9 January). I think it was justlast year that I bumped into Pam Cubey in East Finchley high road aftershe had been visiting Chris Athey, who had not been well. She wantedsome 'take-away' menus for Chris as she wasn't able to cook, and Ivolunteered to take them to her. (I had met Pam Cubey in New Zealandwhen studying for my Masters at Pen Green.)

Chris invited me into tea, and I spent an hour or so discussing earlyyears education and why practitioners found it so hard to engage withschema theory. She gave me the second edition of her book and asked meto come back and discuss it with her.

Unfortunately I didn't manage to do this, but wish I had. I have nowdeveloped a 'learning community' of practitioners engaging with schematheory and putting it into practice in my job as an advisory teacherwith the PVI settings in Barnet, as well as developing their own styleof New Zealand Learning Stories. Chris would have been really excitedwith it, as she had such an appetite for engaging others. She hadproudly told me that she was working on a new book.

I had heard her talk at Pen Green; you had to listen really carefully,as every sentence was packed with meaning. Quite a woman.

Kathy Batten, London

Our star letter wins 30 worth of books

THE REAL STORY OF THE PHONICS TEST

It is good to see your alert to the recent Government response to thephonics test (online, 8 December). However, the DfE paper does not tellthe whole story, as indicated by the comments from the CommunicationTrust and also in your Editor's View (13 December), which points toconsiderable concern about the impact of the test. Several organisations(see TACTYC, www.tactyc.org.uk/pdfs/phonicsletter.pdf) have contactedMichael Gove and Nick Gibb to voice their reservations over some months,to no avail.

The Cambridge Primary Review and all the major teaching unions have alsoexpressed their concerns at the counter-productive distortion ofliteracy learning at this early stage, with the serious risk that manychildren will be labelled failures, and many more will be turned offreading for pleasure and for meaning.

The tests are costly to run, in time as well as money. The Government ismaking up to 3,000 per school available as matched funding toencourage them to buy into recognised phonics schemes, some of whosedirectors have been influential in advising the Government. Ofsted isalready checking on phonics teaching in nurseries as well as in schoolsand teacher training institutions, which makes it very difficult topromote a wider - and better informed - understanding of the issues.

This issue is not going to go away. I hope that parents andpractitioners will let their experiences and views be known.

Wendy Scott, early years consultant, Cumbria

TIME TO ACT ON EYFS CONCERNS

The Government's consultation on the EYFS has exposed huge divisionswithin the early years sector, with very few questions receiving adecisive answer or clear majority view. Concerns included theintroduction of a compulsory 'progress check' for two-year-olds, the'school readiness' issue, the literacy goals, and the introduction ofthree levels (emerging, expected and exceeding) in the Profile. TheGovernment's response suggests that respondents' viewpoints have beenover-ridden by the views of unnamed 'experts' and workshop participants.Moreover, the Government is only proposing to publish guidance in theareas of completing the two-year-olds' check and the EYFS Profile, alongwith a 'development chart' for birth to five, indicating that assessmentand data collection are set to dominate.

We urge all practitioners to look beyond the rhetoric, and ask: can wereally have a genuinely play-based approach, which values each child asa unique individual, when there is an 'expected' level of development toreach by the end of the reception year? When the issue of the threelevels was brought up in the workshops, it was 'recognised that for datacollection purposes it was important to have a simple system'. It isthis very kind of normalising simplicity that has ruined education formany children and teachers. Please participate in the new consultation(deadline 19 January), and reject all the compulsory early learninggoals in principle.

Margaret Edgington, Wendy Ellyatt, Grethe Hooper Hansen, Richard House,Lynne Oldfield, Sue Palmer and Kim Simpson, Open EYE Campaign SteeringGroup

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