NUT on reading for pleasure and literacy skills
Commenting on the Ofsted report Moving English Forward, which surveys the standards of English teaching and literacy in maintained schools, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers' union, said:
“Reading for Pleasure is a key policy for the NUT*. I welcome Ofsted’s recognition of its importance. What teachers need is a recognition of existing expertise to choose the approach to reading that suits the children they are teaching.
“There is a danger that the Government will seize on the passages in the report which state that writing in the Early Years Foundation Stage is the weakest skill for young children. All professionals know that the skill of writing will naturally emerge later than those of speaking and listening. Michael Gove must not interpret this as a need for more input and further pressure on children to write earlier and more often in the early years.
“It is interesting that a reduction in the concentration on tests is recommended by Ofsted at the same time as high stakes testing in primary schools is being increased through the introduction of the Year One Phonics Screening Check. Removing Key Stage 2 SATs and the Year One Phonics Screening Check would do more to free up teachers to teach what children really need to learn than any number of literacy intervention strategies.”
END pr28-2011
For further details contact Caroline Cowie on 0207 380 4706 or 07879480061
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