If you've been cruising around the education sector lately, you've probably caught wind of Abigail Steel's KS3 Phonics Programme. It's like that fresh espresso hit in the world of learning – powerful, full of character and game-changing. And let me tell you why it stands out like the purple cow in a field of regular cattle.
First off, simplicity. Abigail's programme is like the AirPods of phonics – it just works. It understands that educators, you guys, are juggling a million things at once. So, no more stressing over 1:1 sessions or handpicking students for small groups. It's as flexible as a gymnast. You can take it, roll it out to a classroom full of eager faces, and it's going to work just as well. That's the beauty of focusing on essentials. In the last few years, and due to the implications of the pandemic, we were finding more students starting at our school were struggling with their reading. We had quite a few students who were reading at the age of 5 and 6 years old, and this was starting to get worse year upon year. We decided that we needed to offer our students phonics support to help them learn how to read properly – that is where we found Abigail Steel and her team to help us.
It's the end of the academic year and this is me right now. I know, you thought I work in the glamorous world of consultancy and product design so my life should be dreamy, but when you work in the education industry you can't escape the ebb and flow of those intense school terms. So here are some thoughts on teacher burnout. I'm giving myself a little pep-talk. Read on, then as soon as you are home this afternoon, get into your pyjamas and watch a movie on the sofa with your kids.
Phonics education is often associated with early childhood, but its importance extends well beyond the primary years. This perspective is reinforced by Abigail Steel's KS3 Phonics Programme, which showcases how older students can greatly benefit from phonics teaching.
Phonics forms the building blocks of language acquisition, decoding the complex system of English reading and writing. By teaching older students the relationships between letters and sounds, the KS3 Phonics Programme enhances their fluency and comprehension skills. As students' reading materials become more advanced, a solid grounding in phonics becomes critical in decoding new or challenging words, thereby supporting reading comprehension and vocabulary expansion. When it comes to crafting children's literature, there is often a great deal of deliberation over the smallest details. A recent experience with my publishing team beautifully illustrates this. We were working on a new book for 3-4-year-olds, all about the thrilling world of digging and tipping, and found ourselves embroiled in a lively debate over one single word: excavator.
The crux of our discussion revolved around whether to use the term 'digger' or 'excavator' in the book (not as a printed word but in the supporting adult text and audio text). At first glance, 'digger' seems like the clear choice for this age group. It's simple, kid-friendly, and perfectly suitable for a 3-year-old's growing vocabulary. We are thrilled to announce an exciting new change in the way you access and use the Rocket Phonics SSP programme. The publisher, Hodder Education, is moving to an advanced online platform called Boost.
Boost has already proved its mettle in the realm of secondary education, providing a seamless, user-friendly experience for countless users. Now, they're bringing that same robust technology and intuitive interface to primary education, including with Rocket Phonics. Teaching is a profession defined by change. With ever-evolving pedagogical theories, technology advancements, and the dynamic needs of students, educators must perpetually adapt and learn. Ongoing teacher training, or continuous professional development (CPD), is pivotal in this context. So why is this perpetual learning so crucial for educators? What benefits can be reaped from continuous professional development?
The English language's alphabetic code is intricate and fascinating. To teach children how to read and write effectively, systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) programmes were introduced. One of the key players was 'Letters & Sounds (DFE, 2007),' a six-phase teaching programme (although arguably this was never a full programme, merely a skeleton framework). However, a noticeable shift has occurred in newer SSP programmes, particularly moving away from the usage of Phase 4 of 'Letters & Sounds.' But why is this? And what were the inherent problems with Phase 4?
Phase 4 of 'Letters & Sounds' was primarily designed to consolidate children's knowledge. At this stage, no new grapheme-phoneme correspondences were taught. Instead, children were encouraged to practise blending and segmenting longer words with adjacent consonants, such as 'stamp, twist, grasp,' and polysyllabic words. Although this phase was important for boosting confidence and enhancing fluency, it had its shortcomings. Cohort criteria
When we began delivering the KS3 Phonics programme we focused on our Pupil Premium students whose reading ages were below their chronological ages. Our highest priority was Band A PP students followed by Bands B and C, and then students on the SEN register with low reading ages. We also worked with teacher and LSA referrals. Some of these students had already been identified to work on the online Dyslexia Gold programme and we have also invested in the Rapid Plus reading recovery programme. We currently work with Years 7, 8 and 9 with one EHCP exception in Year 10. We have a designated large working area which is part of our library with PCs, whiteboard, and flexible furniture. This creates a private space in a communal room. Our reading ages come from the NGRT online assessment which students take twice a year. As soon as we have identified our cohort, we ensure that copies of the workbooks are produced in several dyslexia friendly colours. It would be helpful if these were available to order. After rolling out the diagnostic test, we put our students into groups whereby their diagnostic test results are similar. Ideally, they will be with other students in their year group and where possible there is commonality with their reading ages. |
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August 2023
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