Read all about it.
Balls Confirms £9m Investments in Phonics Training
Dated: 27/01/2009
Children’s Secretary Ed Balls today confirmed £9m of funding for training to develop high quality phonics in early years settings and primary schools, as part of the Government’s drive to ensure every child learns to read.
In the new financial year the remaining 51 local authorities will join the existing 100 already engaged in the highly successful Communication, Language and Literacy Development programme, that has been designed to implement Sir Jim Rose’s recommendations on early reading. This £9m commitment means every area will have a specialist advisor training and supporting early years practitioners and primary school teachers. The Government is separately funding Leading Literacy Schools to ensure newly qualified teachers (NQTs) get the best possible training in the use of phonics from this year.
Ed Balls also published a letter from Sir Jim Rose updating him on the progress that has been made in the implementation of the Early Reading Review recommendations and highlighting successes and areas for improvement.
In his letter, Sir Jim Rose points to the significant improvements in children’s outcomes at age five in communication, language and literacy. He also notes evidence from practitioners and teachers that children who had below average speaking and listening skills improved dramatically when exposed to imaginative techniques such as role play, music and dramatised stories.
Standards of children’s literacy have never been higher – with 86% of children reaching the expected level 4 in reading at the end of Primary school in 2008, in comparison to just 67% in 1997. In rolling out the Every Child a Reader programme the Government has committed to providing effective early intervention and ensuring every child gets the help they need to learn to read.
Subscribe to our RSS feed.
Subscribe to our RSS feed to receive all the latest E-education news as and when it happens.
