In its current newsletter (No 63, Winter 2007: “The Great Reading Disaster; Beware BSF”), the UK Campaign for Real Education alerts readers to a dozen contemporary concerns about the quality of education. There are sections recounting the “great reading disaster,” concerns about the government program called “Building Schools for the Future,” notes about how English students scored on the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, recognition that the Department for Children, Schools and Families has now (finally?) published guidance on teaching synthetic phonics, and much more. Link to the newsletter here.
Sphere: Related Content
Yes, the DCSF have published their guidance for teaching synthetic phonics and it is available (free) online, complete with video clips, at:
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/local/clld/las.html ‘Letters and Sounds’ N.B. teaching of reading (synthetic phonics) starts in Phase Two.
You might be interested in looking at my website too – it’s centred around the evidence-based teaching of reading: http://www.dyslexics.org.uk