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NASUWT: No confidence in phonics reading check

NASUWT: No confidence in phonics reading check

The overwhelming majority of teachers do not believe that the Coalition Government’s phonics check is a reliable or accurate test of children’s reading abilities.

Over two thirds of teachers who responded to a survey conducted by the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, said that the phonics check fails to accurately and effectively assess the skills of more able readers.

The Coalition Government has imposed a requirement on schools to teach reading using systematic synthetic phonics, a system of teaching children to read by blending letter sounds. Children now undergo a phonics check to test their reading abilities in year one of primary school.

The majority of teachers (97%) who responded to the NASUWT survey believe that systematic synthetic phonics should be on the menu of options for teaching children to read, but they should have the professional discretion to employ other appropriate approaches to meet pupils’ needs.

The survey found that:

·        three quarters (75%) of teachers do not believe that the results of the phonics check provide useful information about the progress and achievement of pupils as readers;

·        80% reported that the check does not reflect accurately the reading abilities of all pupils; 68% said this was particularly the case for more able readers;

·        integral to the structure of the check is the inclusion of ‘non-words’ that pupils are expected to use their phonic awareness to decode. Over three quarters (79%) of teachers said that pupils were confused when asked to read these words aloud;

·        92% of teachers do not think the phonics test is reliable enough to provide parents or Ofsted with an accurate picture of schools’ performance in helping children learn to read;

·        almost half of teachers (48%) said undertaking the phonics check had been stressful for pupils and a quarter said it had impacted negatively on pupils’ confidence as readers;

·        over half of teachers said that the imposition of phonics as the only way to teach children to read had limited the ability of teachers to use their professional judgement and expertise;

·        nearly four in five teachers (78%) reported that the phonics check has increased their workload.

A motion calling for an end to mandatory phonics testing is due to be debated at the NASUWT’s Annual Conference in Bournemouth tomorrow (Monday).

Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:

“It is entirely right that supporting the development of pupils’ early reading skills should be regarded as a policy priority by the Coalition Government.

“However, the best way to ensure that all children can develop into confident readers is for ministers to provide the conditions whereby teachers feel empowered and supported to use their professional judgement and expertise for the good of the pupils they teach.

“Politicians should not be dictating and restricting teaching methods. Ministers would not presume to tell a surgeon how to perform an operation; why treat the teaching profession differently?

“This survey demonstrates the deep frustration of teachers at constantly being told when to teach, what to teach and how to teach.”

 

ENDS


NASUWT Press Office contacts:
Ben Padley 07785 463 119
Lena Davies 07867 392 746
Amanda Williamson 07741 246 202

Notes to editors

A copy of the survey, to which over 600 teachers responded, is attached.

The NASUWT’s Annual Conference is being held at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) from 29 March to 1 April.

The full text of the motion which is being debated tomorrow (Monday) at the Conference is below:

DE-PROFESSIONALISATION OF TEACHERS

Michelle Smart to move,
Alan Parkhurst to second:
Conference is dismayed by the continued de-professionalisation of teachers and objects to the culture of accountability in schools that demands continual close scrutiny of excessively detailed lesson planning.
Conference further objects to the imposition of the prescriptive method of teaching reading through phonics alone and deplores government policies that may hamper pupil progress and destroy pupil self-confidence, particularly amongst the very young.
Conference urges the national executive to:
(i) continue to support teachers in regaining their status as highly qualified professionals and in exercising their professional judgement to facilitate learning;
(ii) take all steps possible to bring an end to phonics testing in year 1 and
(iii) commission research on successful and proven methods of teaching reading, for publication before Conference 2014.
(North Tyneside, Shropshire North)

AMENDMENT
Executive to move,
Executive to second:
in the first paragraph:
between ‘of’ and ‘accountability’ insert ‘punitive’
delete ‘that demands continual close scrutiny of excessively detailed lesson planning’
in the second paragraph:
between ‘through’ and ‘phonics’ insert ‘systematic synthetic’
between ‘deplores’ and ‘government’ insert ‘such’
in the third paragraph:
between ‘Executive’ and ‘to’ insert ‘to continue’
in (i) delete ‘continue to’ and ‘and in exercising their professional judgement to facilitate learning’
in (ii) between ‘to’ and ‘phonics’ insert ’mandatory’ and delete ‘in Year 1’
in (iii) replace all with ‘campaign for professional autonomy for classroom teachers to empower them to exercise their professional judgment to research and select the most appropriate methods of teaching reading.’
(Executive)

Ben Padley,
Press and Media Officer,
Campaigns and Communications,
NASUWT
Hillscourt Education Centre
Rednal
Birmingham
B45 8RS
0121 457 6269
07785 463 119
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