UK Schools Minister Nick Gibb announces funding for phonics
Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:33 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... i7qni6hliA
I thought this would be a very good thread to include the brief speech made by Nick Gibb, Minister for Schools in the UK, at the UK Reading Reform Foundation conference in October 2011.
Nick describes measures being taken in England to address the very poor levels of literacy still worryingly evident in the UK.
This includes government match funding in English schools for the purchase of systematic synthetic phonics programmes, decodable reading books and training; a change of standards required in order for student-teachers to qualify and changes to the way that Ofsted inspectors look at reading in schools.
These are extremely important measures and a sign of how seriously the government takes the need for systematic synthetic phonics for beginners.