Hello, The following article might be of interest.
Cheers, Vincent Patrick ---------------------------------------------------- http://news.scotsman.com/headlines.cfm?id=162492005 New teaching technique goes to top of the class KEVIN SCHOFIELD EDUCATION CORRESPONDENT A NEW method of teaching primary school children to read and write has been hailed as a major success after researchers discovered it enabled pupils to surge years ahead of their contemporaries. The groundbreaking programme, known as synthetic phonics, was created at St Andrews University and has been piloted in Clackmannanshire for the past seven years. It involves teaching primary one children to read by learning more than one letter sound at a time. Youngsters are taught the initial, middle and final letter sounds so that they quickly learn how to blend them together to form words. Videos and songs are also used to help youngsters spell and read unfamiliar words. The new method differs from traditional teaching, where children are taught one letter sound at a time right through the alphabet. Dr Joyce Watson and Professor Rhona Johnston, who developed the synthetic phonics programme, have been carrying out a study into its effectiveness since it was first introduced. The results, published yesterday, revealed that, by primary seven, pupils were more than three years ahead of their peers in reading and almost two years ahead in spelling. The study also found that boys outperformed girls in reading and spelling. The report said: "It is evident that the children in this study have achieved well above what would be expected for their chronological age. "We can conclude that a synthetic phonics programme, as part of the reading curriculum, has a major and long-lasting effect on children's reading and spelling attainment." It went on: "At the end of the seventh year at school, when the children were around 11.5 years old, they were reading at a 15-year- old level. That is, word reading was 3.5 years ahead of chronological age. Spelling was 1.75 years ahead of chronological age. "The boys were significantly ahead of the girls in word reading and spelling. Their word reading was 11 months ahead of the girls and their spelling was nearly nine months ahead of the girls." Dr Watson and Prof Johnston plan to conduct a further study to find out why boys seem to benefit more than girls. The synthetic phonics method involves learning by interaction, with the pupils being able to touch individual letters to form words. In the study, 304 children in primary one were taught to read and spell using the new technique. Each week, they spent 20 minutes a day learning letter sounds and building up a recognition of words containing all of the letters. The synthetic phonics method has been so successful that it is now used in more than 300 schools across the United Kingdom. Last night, the headteacher at one of the Clackmannanshire schools where it has been piloted described the results as "remarkable". Ronnie O'Grady, the head of Menstrie Primary School, said: "The most noticeable thing about it is the fact that the results have been sustained right through to primary seven. "The impact it has had on boys' learning has also been fantastic. "I think the fact that it is multi-sensory and allows children to see, touch and hear words makes a big difference as well because it makes learning fun. "It is also taught at a fast pace, which suits the pupils and the teachers - there's something in it for everybody." Mrs O'Grady added: "I can't say that synthetic phonics would be right for every school, but I think it's important that every school is at least aware of it. "Schools need to look at their staff and decide whether it would be appropriate for them, but we will certainly continue to use it." Habe Williamson, 11, is a primary seven pupil at Menstrie Primary who has been taught using synthetic phonics. She said: "Instead of looking at words and trying to work out what they were, we would sound them out and that helped me to understand it more quickly. "There were also lots of videos which were fun. I've spoken to my big brother about it and I think it's much better than the way he was taught." Peter Peacock, the education minister, welcomed the study yesterday. He said: "These results show that innovative approaches to core subjects really can help our children achieve more at school. "These youngsters have a head start in reading and writing and this strong foundation will prepare them well for the challenges of secondary school and adult life." ------------------------ Yahoo! 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