Good quote from John "We should always be prepared to challenge the siren song of the opposers of phonics. What's at stake is the future of our children's literacy." What I find particularly obnoxious is the "Reading for Pleasure" campaign, insinuating as it does that children given an early and tho...

Debbie,

I think that is the best posting EVER!

You nailed it girl!

Disclosure: I'm not a teacher, but I was a committee member of the Australian National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy (2005) so I am very familiar with the evidence

So, in what capacity were you on the committee, Yvonne?

Jenny has said she is away from her computer today but will try to respond to Toots as soon as she can.

Typical! A whole article on improvements in Tower Hamlets and who gets the credit? Who gets to be "quoted?" Kevan Collins, Teflon Man, who, when Regional Director for the NLS in London was full-square behind mixed methods. The NLS team on the ground in Tower Hamlets deserve some credit, but not him....

This is not research, it is reporting the findings of a survey of some of NATE's members. Given the NATE mindset, this is like asking a load of vegans what they think about steak and kidney pudding. The "findings" are hardly earth-shattering. Or, to misquote Mandy Rice-Davies, "well, they would thin...

Having now watched both videos and gone to the Ellis/ Moss article, I have the following to say. Firstly, of the 2 videos, the first one was far more enjoyable as it had no sound. I think NALDIC would have been on a real winner, had they gone the whole hog and had no visuals as well. Secondly, the 2...

Can I sound people out on which nationally normed reading and spelling tests ( ones that give a reading and a spelling age, and are very simple to administer) they think are currently the best? We need to get one or two in for help with assessing SEND children. Jenny, I know you and I corresponded o...

In other words, I would apply caution, scepticism, common sense and prior knowledge to the documents, and not simply take them at face value.

Oh Jenny.

How fortunate we are to have someone with the perspicacity to point out to you, and to us all, the error of our ways.

That's more like it.

Only 5 lines of text.

Off to bed now, but not quitting.

Yet another page of nit-picking and recycling ad nauseum! Irony is lost on you. Either that, or you can't take a hint. You need to prove that pupils are getting enough reading instruction of the right sort under the present system, and that the "Reading for Pleasure" lobby are wrong as regards what ...

Viv Edwards, professor of language in education at the University of Reading, criticised the UK’s reliance on the system and said that no one method suited every child. “Most practitioners have continued to promote the belief of a balanced approach, but overall the pendulum has swung increasingly to...

Ooh Toots! You are a one for putting words in other people's mouths and then attacking them for things you say they've said when they didn't. NALDIC has a long history of being anti phonics. In my NLS days, we used to say it was because the Literacy Hour would teach all the EAL children to read and ...

Probably because they didn't take up half a side of A4 nit picking and recycling ad nauseum what everyone else has just said.

Not answered any of my points, just thrown up some red herrings, if you'll excuse the pun.