Government urged to 'reform the use of phonics' as it is 'failing children'

In an open letter to the education secretary Nadhim Zahawi, over 250 signatories call on the Government to amend their policy to ‘centre on a wider range of approaches to teaching phonics and reading, enabling teachers to use their own judgement about which is best for their pupils’.

The letter also says that teachers should be encouraged to focus ‘first and foremost’ on pupils making sense of texts, and that phonics teaching should be ‘carefully linked with reading of whole texts.’

Their call comes after findings from new research, carried out by the UCL Institute of Education, suggests that teaching of reading has been less successful in England since the use of synthetic phonics was adopted.

The research is based upon an analysis of research, including 55 experimental trials and data from international assessment tests such as PISA, and a survey of 2,205 nursery, Reception and Year 1 teachers.

The majority of teachers surveyed said that synthetic phonics was their main focus for teaching reading.

'The system doesn't give teachers enough flexibility, nor to encourage pupils to enjoy reading'

Co-author Professor Dominic Wyse explained, ‘For the first time in more than 100 years we see that a balanced instruction approach to the teaching of reading is no longer the norm in England. The majority of teachers are now reporting the more frequent use of the narrower synthetic phonics approach. England’s synthetic phonics approach requires a too heavy emphasis on teaching about phonemes (sounds), and so minimises attention to other vital aspects of teaching reading. Our view is that the system doesn’t give teachers enough flexibility to do what they think is best for their pupils, nor to encourage pupils to enjoy reading.’

The authors of the research say that the Department for Education uses a range of ways of enforcing synthetic phonics, including through Ofsted using the statutory phonics screening check, vetting reading schemes and only approving those which include synthetic phonics.

According to the UCL Institute of Education, all but one of the 936 written comments from the survey of teachers about the phonics screening check were negative. A total of 237 comments said that teachers had needed to give extra phonics lessons to help children pass the test. One teacher said they felt they had to ‘live and breathe phonics’, and another expressed a desire for ‘reflection on the mass of skills involved in reading rather than solely focusing on phonics.’

Co-author, Professor Alice Bradbury said, ‘Our findings highlight that although there are a range of ways to teach reading, many teachers feel pressured by the phonics screening check to focus on phonics above all.

‘Policy changes have led to changes in teaching, including more time being spent on phonics, the separation of phonics from other literacy activities, and a reliance on a small number of phonics schemes. This is an important shift in how children are taught to read, a shift which is not underpinned by the research evidence.’