This is what happens when you overcrowd the curriculum, stop teaching phonics and word attack strategies and administer mindlessly boring drivel dressed as literature:
Figures published for the first time show that 42 per cent of pupils – almost 250,000 – fail to achieve the expected standard in reading after a year of school.
Data from the Department for Education – based on a new-style test sat this summer – revealed that boys are already slipping far behind girls in terms of their ability to accurately decode a list of 40 words.
White British boys from the poorest backgrounds officially performed worse than any group, other than those from gypsy and traveller families. Just 37 per cent of these children reached the standard expected of their age group.
The disclosure will raise concerns that some groups of children – particularly boys – are being failed in the early years.
It comes just a week after Sats results showed that more than 20,000 boys finished primary school this summer with the reading age of a seven-year-old or worse.
To win this battle we need to promote reading, not just teach it. This can only be done by replacing ‘take-home leveled readers’ with rich, engaging texts. It is essential that our students see the benefits of reading, grow an appreciation for words and word sounds and most of all, come to the conclusion that their teacher is passionate about reading too.
Click on the link to read Who Corrects Our Spelling Mistakes?
Click on the link to read This is What Happens When You Rely on Spell Check
Click on the link to read The 15 Most Commonly Misspelled Words in the English Language
Click on the link to read Who Said Grammar Isn’t Important?
Click on the link to read Why Spelling is Important
Topical Teaching 