Synthetic phonics has been described as a "back to basics" way of teaching children to read and it will be the focus of the Government's literacy review. The system teaches pupils to recognise the ...

England’s education secretary has endorsed a plan that would mandate a more direct method of teaching phonics. Read the British consultant’s report on literacy instruction. Ruth Kelly, who took over ...

Two of the synthetic phonics programs, Letters and Sounds (L&S) and Early Reading Research (ERR), used by English primary schools to teach young children to read are equally effective overall.

If you have children who are learning to read, you are most likely going to have heard about synthetic phonics. Many of you might feel confused by them, and not really know what they are, or why they ...

GRANNY was right after all, the government announced yesterday. Education Secretary Ruth Kelly told parents she would turn the clock back so their children learn to read the way their own parents did.

The phonics screening check is so closely correlated with month of birth that it can be argued that it is a test of age rather than decoding.

Children who struggle with reading can make dramatic progress in just a fortnight when they are given traditional lessons, a report reveals today. The study by a think-tank showed that primary school ...

Early years experts warned last week that there were dangers in promoting synthetic phonics, as the Government unveiled a review into the way reading is taught in England's primary schools. Early ...

Phonics tests for six year olds have started in schools in England. But what do parents need to know about this system for learning to read? Phonics has been promoted by the government as the best way ...

Willem Hollmann is affiliated with the Committee for Linguistics in Education (CLiE) and with the Education Committee of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain (LAGB). Cathie Wallace is ...