Word Perfect

Visited Ysgol Llandrillo yn Rhos today, to learn more about synthetic phonics. This is the literacy education system that, put at its simplest, teaches children to recognise sounds and put them together to make words.

The version of synthetic phonics used at the school is Read Write Inc., a system developed by Ruth Miskin, former head teacher at Kobi Nazrul school, Tower Hamlets.

The lesson, which lasted one hour, was lively, the children clearly enjoying themselves. Although only five years old, they were astonishingly advanced – a testament both to the reading system and to the excellence of their teacher, Mrs Nye.

Educationalists are, I understand, increasingly turning to synthetic phonics as the preferred method of teaching literacy. The children read and write for an hour a day, grouped according to their reading level. They work with a partner, to practice what they have been taught. This means that all children participate fully during the whole lesson; there is no “down time”.

In many respects, the system is similar to the one by which I and many other people of my age were taught to read. Things changed in the mid 1960s, with a system that was essentially based on word recognition taking over. That synthetic phonics is now once again finding favour is proof of the old adage that there’s nothing new under the sun.