Reports are coming back from schools that despite Synthetic Phonics being taught in Reception classes, many children are failing to learn to decode. This has been reflected in the results of the Y1 Phonics Check with 58% reading 32 out of 40 words correctly. Why is this happening?
Here are some possible reasons:
1. Not enough experience and practice of ‘blending’
Teachers are teaching children to recognise the graphemes. Children are learning the Phonic Code. But do they know what to do with this knowledge? The underlying skill they need is ‘blending’. Are children being taught to blend? Do teachers know how to teach children to blend sounds into words?
2. Books that are not decodable
Children need to practise using the phonic knowledge and skills they have been taught. Initially, the best way to do this is by providing them with exercises in the form of texts which are decodable. If the teacher offers the child a text that is not decodable , she/he is encouraging the child to guess. How else can the child access the text? Are children being offered decodable texts to practice their reading skills?
3. Pace is too fast
Is the pace of teaching matched to the children? If the pace is too fast some children will not retain what has been taught. The fundamental building blocks of reading are essential. Gaps that are created will need to be revisited and filled in. It is better to work at a slower, steadier pace, building the child’s confidence at each stage.
4. Not enough practice at each stage
Is enough practice included in the programme so that the new knowledge can be internalised and absorbed?
5. Inadequate teacher training
Good teacher training would solve all the above. Have we invested enough in teacher training? Are our teachers confident and skilled in teaching the most important life skill a child needs to learn in school?