The government today renewed its commitment to phonics as it unveiled a new teaching programme aimed at the under-sevens.

The Letters and Sounds programme, which is available free to schools, has been developed by the Department for Education and Skills in conjunction with Jim Rose, a former schools inspector whose review of reading among young children last year recommended that schools adopt the phonics teaching method in class.

The programme is divided into six sections. It begins by preparing children for phonics through basic songs and games.

By section six, children should be able to read with fluency, ministers claim.

Schools are now legally required to teach pupils to read using phonics, which involves blending letter sounds to form words.

This method was already part of the government's literacy strategy, but teachers had been previously encouraged to use a variety of methods.

However, the Rose review, which sought to address concerns about literacy standards among young children, concluded that phonics was crucial to raising standards.

Teachers unions have questioned the wisdom of adopting a "one size fits all" approach to reading, saying this style may not suit all children and that it should be left up to teachers to decide how best to teach their pupils.

Launching the programme today, the minister for children and families, Beverley Hughes, said: "Letters and Sounds is a powerful teaching tool which will ensure that young children are well-placed to read and spell words with fluency and confidence by the time they reach seven years old."

She added: "The systematic, high-quality teaching of phonics is proven to be the most effective way of teaching young children how to read and this programme is the next step in our continued efforts to raise standards in literacy.

"We must get it right at the very beginning because we want young children to receive the best start. The Rose review has been widely welcomed and we now have a clear, tried and tested method of teaching our children how to read."

The Conservative party, which backs the use of phonics, welcomed the publication.

The shadow schools minister, Nick Gibb, said: "It is essential that every school implements effective synthetic phonics programmes.

"Only if schools do this will we have a realistic prospect of raising the standard of reading in primary schools and eradicating illiteracy among young people."

Liz Ford
Tuesday June 19, 2007

With many thanks to the excellent Guardian.