A review of the way children are taught to read in England's primary schools is being set up following a critical report on standards by MPs.
The government will investigate techniques such as "synthetic phonics" - teaching the sounds of letters to form words - with a view to using them more.
The announcement comes after a Commons education select committee report in April which highlighted an "unacceptably high" failure rate in reading tests for 11-year-olds.
Do you think the way children are taught to read in primary schools needs reforming? Have standards slipped? Would synthetic phonics suit all children? Send us your comments and experiences.
This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.
The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far:
Time for another hare-brained half-thought through incentive to be pushed through by the governing party, methinks... Yet another change for our schoolchildren (and teachers) to deal with. Why can't we have people who are qualified in charge of our education system?
Paul Rowlands, United Kingdom
The comments about parents are bang-on. I used to work as a teacher, and the difference between the kids whose parents used to read with them and take some interest in their learning, and the kids whose parents left it to the school was stark. No politician will ever dare say so though, so we'll continue with this loony debate forever.
John G, London, England
There is nothing wrong with the reading lessons. The problem lies with too many cultures not really wanting their children to read or speak English at home. Concentrate on integration and the reading problem will disappear.
W P Derbyshire, London UK
As a trainee primary teacher, I feel that the methods set out in the National Literacy Strategy are successful in providing young children with a range of strategies for reading. Phonics teaching is not, in my experience, ignored in schools. Phonics skills are simply taught along with a range of others, in order to allow all pupils various strategies that can be used.
Daniel, Birmingham
 |  My daughter is two and a month and she can already read 50 words |
My daughter is two and a month and she can already read 50 words. Ignoring the government ideology that everyone should be working and children in childcare, my wife stays at home and looks after the children - it is what she (and I) want to do. I do not think that reading method is the real issue here, it is a culture that values making money and the pursuit of personal happiness more important than nurturing young lives.
Ed Manning, Coventry, UK
Any human has limitations on the amount of information it can absorb. The penalty of increasing and diversifying the subjects taught is that "students learn less about more things".
David, Livingston, Scotland
I went through primary education in Scotland, and I am often shocked at the way my English friends pronounce words. The idea that "WH" makes a different sound to "W" is a mystery to them. I had no idea synthetic phonics was not used in English schools, and I hope this is remedied soon, for the sake of the arguments I often have over it!
Andrew MacDonald, Manchester
Teachers listening to their pupils' reading needs and respond to them on an individual basis. It's the only way to go. The government should take a leaf out of their book, instead of scribbling all over it in red ink!
Sally, Sussex, England
I think that the way children are taught in your country is far better than in mine. It strikes me that it is more important for English speaking languages to develop their listening and writing skills because the pronunciation is not the same as the writing. Last but not least, do not forget that children are the future of one's nation so they have to be prepared for what is coming up
Sara, Lima, Peru
| The idea isn't new, it's just come around again |
My mother taught me to read using synthetic phonics in the early 1959's, so the idea isn't new, it's just come around again. During my own teacher training I was introduced to the phonetic system, which worked fine until the children had to be taught the correct way to spell. If the child wants to copy or trace the written word my advice is not to stop them.
Hazel, UK Lots of comments suggest that parents should help to teach their children to read and therefore take some responsibility for their reading ability. This still leaves a large number of children, those with illiterate parents or whose parents don't speak English. For them school is the only provider of reading education, and they need extra help to compensate for the lack of home assistance. Also some children have such poor pronunciation that phonics could hardly help them.
Helen, Essex, UK
I have had no problems with the schooling techniques that I have received for reading. Neither have any of my friends or older generations of relatives. If the vast majority can learn like this, why cannot others? It all comes down to children with special needs needing to be taught an individual way, to their own abilities. There is no need to change the complete education system on reading. It's absurd.
Claire, Whitnash, England
I am a Teaching Assistant and I work with Year 1 pupils in a Literacy Support Programme. We use a number of strategies to help children cope with unfamiliar words. Phonics plays a big part in this, but is not always the answer for every child. There is no 'one size fits all' situation with children - every one of them is unique. I think you can infer my thoughts on the government's new review from these comments.
Jeanne Roberts, Wawne Village, East Riding
As an early stages teacher for the past 20 years I agree that the synthetic phonics method of teaching reading is by far the most effective. In my experience the children are noticeably more involved in the multi-sensory approach and they are enthusiastic about learning sounds and working out words. As a result they tend to become confident readers much earlier then those taught using a mixed approach.
Pat, Scotland
Parents hardly read to their children anymore let alone have a real conversation which effects their reading and speech abilities. It's not the teachers fault its society changing for the worse.
J Wright, Newcastle upon Tyne
Surely only synthetic phonics/phonics and learning the alphabet makes any sense. Anything else is like converting words into Chinese pictograms but with less obvious symbolic content. The alphabet is only a code for sounds so using it any other way is a tragic error. Do the educationalists really want to handicap unnecessarily. Frustrated bad readers are in part tomorrow's class troublemakers
Frederick Thompson, Romford, Essex Teachers are supposed to be professionals like lawyers, doctors or accountants. One key factor with professionals is that they are employed to exercise skill and judgement. The customer does not "instruct" a professional. Why is it that teachers are the only "profession" which allows all and sundry to have an opinion as to how the job should be done? Most people who pontificate on education matters have never worked in a classroom. What would be the response of lawyers to having a legal Ofsted with inspectors sitting in and grading them on their performance? Its about time teachers banned all inspections and the like and regained their self-respect.
P Mullery, West Midlands
Given that so many children are reaching the age of eleven with poor reading skills and that so many teenagers leave school unable to spell, construct sentences or use grammar properly, then the government is justified, on our behalf, in forcing the teaching profession to revisit its methods.
Lorraine, St Albans, UK
The government should allow those who know about how to teach children to read to get on with doing it. Different things will work for different children at different stages of their development. As long as the method is effective, we should respect teachers' professional judgement
Baz, Newcastle, UK
I think teachers should be allowed to work with pupils individually on this - one method does not fit all. More onus need to be put on the parents to spend time with their children helping them with reading. Too many homes these days have a distinct lack of books - this is one instance where the parents need to accept an amount of blame, teachers can only do so much during school time and things need to be re-enforced by parents at home.
Sarah, Bedford, UK
I am pleased to see that some common sense seems to have returned to the classroom. At present teachers are too constrained by government proposals and need to be able to apply methods that work for them and their pupils. Our society devolves far too much parental responsibility to teachers. We spend at least 30 minutes per night reading with our children. This is a lot harder than just plonking them in front of the telly but it does mean that both our offspring are literate and informed.
Andy, Harrogate, UK
I am a father with two children at our local primary school. I usually spend 2-3 hours each week as a "parent helper" in the school and I spend much of that time listening to children read. Most of the children I've worked with seemed to learn well with whatever techniques are currently used. When an individual is having trouble, sometimes a different technique is needed. Class teachers have a range of techniques to use and it should simply be up to them, in consultation with parents if appropriate, to decide which ones to use for each child. It isn't appropriate for the government to require a "one size fits all" method. People learn things in different ways.
Mark, Cambridge, UK
What frightens me is this government's enthusiasm for experimenting with my kid's education. They love having all kinds of new initiatives, but what if they don't work? What if they damage my kids education? What then?
David, London
My mum was directly responsible for teaching me to read before I ever reached infants school. I always had a reading age well above my actual age because of it. Why doesn't anyone realise that mucking about with old school tried and tested teaching methods will impact a child's 'whole' school life? It's all very well for the well intentioned to implement these ideas but they are not the ones who will have their learning seriously blunted.
Phil, Hailsham, UK
| The government can't step in and tell teachers how they should go about teaching children to read |
Different children learn in different ways. The government can't step in and tell teachers how they should go about teaching children to read. It should be left up to those involved to decide the best method for each child.
VK, Lancaster, UK When I was at Primary School, six years ago, I was always told to "sound out" the words if I couldn't read them. I found it quite helpful, and very occasionally still use it. I learnt to read through pretty much memorising books and associating the written word with the spoken. I hope to train to become a primary school teacher in the near future, but am concerned about the schemes and measures introduced to "help" children. How can a politician, who more often than not has little or no teaching experience, tell people who have trained and practiced their profession for years what they should do? .
Tim Allen, Colchester UK
Indeed they do, my three children are all wonderful readers and learned using the synthetic phonics system here in Scotland. I think it makes it easier for children and parents to work together and if reading standards in England are as appalling as these statistics suggest then it is time for reform of the teaching methods.
Sharon McGonigal, Kilbirnie Scotland
There has been too much change and messing about with education for political ends. Let teachers get on with the job... and let parents play their part. They've got to turn the TV off and read with their children. I'll be interested to know if the government have the courage to say that! As a teacher with 18 years experience the literacy hour has been a failure... we need to have time to hear children read individually and that just hasn't happened.
Sally, Spalding, UK
To me it seems very straightforward. We have vast numbers of children - including university graduates - whose standard of English is simply inadequate. This did not happen two generations ago. Call me old fashioned if you like, but it seems to me that something that was being done well needs reviving.
Colin Morley, London, England
I believe much of this is down to lacklustre and irresponsible parenting. At the end of the day, children's development up to five years old is solely the responsibility of parents, after which it becomes a team effort between parent and school. Kids can and should be reading before they even start school given appropriate investment of time, effort and responsibility by parents. Teachers are there to help, not to do the job for us.
Dan, Yateley, UK
Let's get something straight - phonics is not new; it is the method by which most of the adult population of this country were taught to read. Neither is it 'controversial', as the BBC keep trying to tell us. It is still taught in most schools to some extent, in addition to the highly controversial (and ineffective) 'look and say' method. Phonics is by far the best method in my view.
Andrew H, Manchester, England
It has been shown that children's learning is vastly improved by parents working with their children. Am I now going to be expected to learn phonics in order to read books with my children?
Anon, Lancashire, UK
Children do not come as a standard package. They are ready to learn to read at different ages and they find different methods easier or harder depending on the type of child. All those complaining that children don't learn to read at nursery school should reflect on the fact that many youngsters in reading recovery programmes are there because they were forced into formal education far too young and found it overwhelming. For the record, my son taught himself to read at two using the sight method, my niece learned at school using phonics at six. Both love to read and to be read to.
Julie, UK
I taught all five of my children to read with phonics - and they are all avid readers! I was horrified to learn that the schools here have reverted to the "sight" method where children have to memorize every single word. Phonics has always worked and cannot be improved upon!
Kathryn, Greensboro, NC, USA
What about the cause of this deplorable state of affairs? Reading and spelling are quite clearly both on the decline, while many school children today do not even know what grammar is. I believe children should be streamed at school on the basis of attitude and behaviour, rather than academic attainment. Children of all abilities can and should work together. It is the disruption and bullying by a delinquent minority that spoils the learning environment for everyone else. There is no reason why the majority of decent, well-motivated children should have their schooling sabotaged in this way.
Brian Crabb, Abergele, Wales
I could read before I started school, thanks to my parents reading with me after nursery classes, and the provision of a "tin of words" that went home with each reading book. By age eight, I was reading at the level of a 15-year-old. Being able to read on my own from such an age has fostered in me a great love of books and literature. I was shocked to spend time with a friend's 5-year-old, who, when he started school, couldn't read or write at all, despite going to nursery for a year before starting school! I know that when I have children, I will want to give them the best possible chance and will therefore help them read. It is joint responsibility of both the parents and school to encourage and help children.
Shell, Blackpool, Lancashire
The government should make the widest range of resources available to its professional teachers and then let them teach. To restrict them to specified methods is pretend that the government could do the job better than the teachers. This is grossly insulting considering how poorly they do their own job.
Alan Joinson, Abingdon, Oxon
How on earth can the internet be responsible for a decline in reading standards, when the vast majority of the content is text-based, or at least obtained through text hyperlinks? The internet encourages a far more proactive style of information gathering than television and radio; you have to actively go out and search for what you want, rather than just having it spoon-fed. Rose-tinted spectacles and a general mistrust of new technology I think are playing a part here, I think. As for saying that the perceived decline is the fault of television itself - well, TV's been around since 1936 and doesn't appear to have affected the articulacy and intelligence of your correspondents- one way or the other!
Laurence Price, Oxford, England
I am 27 and was taught to read this way with no problems. I now have a four year old daughter and have taught her to read myself. I'm not leaving it to chance, considering the incompetent politicians we have in the government these days!
Catherine, Glasgow, Scotland
There's nothing wrong with the way reading is taught now. I learnt to read 'the old way' and it's served me well. There's a lot of truth in the adage "If it's not broken, don't fix it".
Richard W, Lancashire, UK
I teach 11 -18 year olds and falling standards in reading ability are clear. My mum (a nurse) taught me to read before I started school. I did the same for my son, using a mixture of phonics, reading cards, story reading and assisted reading. Education is a shared responsibility for parents, teachers, media and society as a whole. Too many parents fail to even talk to their kids let alone read with them.
JB, London, England
My first reading book at 8 years old was "Roger Red Hat" and other wonders such as "Jennifer Yellow Hat". It was as boring as they could possibly be! I was severely dyslexic, but one teacher took an interest, he marched me outside and ceremoniously burnt my dull reading books. He handed me a copy of the Hobbit, inscribed with the Einstein quote "Imagination is far more important than knowledge", and thereby started a trend, which made me a book lover for the rest of my life and gave me a firm belief that it was the ideas you had that where most important. We just need to fire up children's imaginations with reading, instead of parking them in front of the TV!
Clair, London, UK
| How about stopping more money-wasting Labour spin and encouraging parents to read to their children |
How about stopping more money-wasting Labour spin and encouraging parents to read to their children and have their children read back to them instead of sticking them in front of the video or computer game. Conventional methods work for the rest of Europe, sadly here I think it is the parents who need to go to parenting school.
Nick, London There's nothing wrong with doing studies on methods, but they told me on a teacher course that different learners have different learning styles. If that is so then a "one size fits all" approach cannot be right. A properly trained and competent teacher will recognise the best method for each pupil. The teacher just needs the time to observe the pupil and decide, but is probably too busy on government paperwork.
Phil, UK
I believe that with languages like English/ French which are not always pronounced as they are written, this will always be a problem due to the ambiguity. I can understand the plight of 5+ year olds since I've seen even 35+ year old well educated people pronouncing or spelling words nowhere near what they actually should be. I think "synthetic phonics" is definitely an option depending upon the individual's suitability. The only danger being one might start spelling it as "sinthetik foniks"!
Sandeep, London
Phonetics make reading easier and spelling more difficult. But increasingly spell checkers will deal with the latter problem.
Richard Miller, Ireland
I am 41 and was taught to read using phonics at primary school. In my last year of primary, I moved to another school that did not use phonics and I was way ahead of all the other pupils in my class. I am not that bright, so can only attribute this to being taught with the phonetic method. This was 30+ years ago, so what happened?
Nick, London
Phonics is not new; it has been used on the continent for decades. Their children are way ahead of ours in reading ability. Expect this to be fanatically resisted by the teaching establishment - the ultras who control education detest phonics and will merely sneer at parents who are concerned that their children cannot read. After all, who are the 'experts'?
Rob, UK
Once again we try to blame failings in children on failings in the education system. When are people going to realise that its parental responsibility (or the lack of it) that is the main reason here. My parents taught me to read before I started primary school. Parents should take a more active role in the education of their children, instead of washing their hands of any responsibility. Get that issue addressed and I'm fairly sure you will see an improvement in the ability to read (amongst other things) of today's children,
Dan, UK
My parents had taught me to read before I went to school, we've done the same, to the best of our abilities, with our four sons. Education begins at home in all matters, reading and discipline included! Schools act "in loco parentis" - they stand in for the parents. We, as parents, have responsibilities too - especially to our children!
Nick, Potters Bar, UK
Now 63, my first school reading book was 'Treasure Island' at 8 years old. One or two at primary school had read Dickens. Radio programmes for children were mostly more mature than today's TV. No shouting or presenters hyping everyone up. Is that why we looked forward to being accepted as responsible adults, full members of society? Today one sees 18 year olds skateboarding etc. Their peers would have ridiculed them in my day.
David, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
Children who reach the age of 11 and still have reading problems have been failed not by their teachers but by their parents, who have not shown enough interest in their child's development. It's easy for the government to meddle yet again with teaching practices, but what they should be doing is highlighting the important part that parents play. Reading is about practice and if the child's parents are not interested in listening to their child read, the child will not improve as quickly as those who read nightly.
Roger Cope, Burton upon Trent My son is five, and has only just started to grasp phonics. However he started picking up reading at two, due to a fascination with rhyming books, and can now read like a 10-year-old. Each child needs to be helped to find the best way to suit them and surely the best way is for nursery staff and health visitors to help and encourage children - little things like books at health visitor clinics.
A Legge, Leeds, UK
I could read before I got to school. Once again, it was my parents who took on the duty of teaching me to read. Kids today simply don't like reading, they'd rather be playing video games. Parents should be getting involved with their kids long before they go to school. Reading is a life skill, not an academic qualification. There should be no need for kids to get to school unable to read. But, as they do, why change? The current methods are rubbish, I know teachers think that, why can't they simply use age old traditional methods? Why do we have to have all these wacky ideas all of a sudden? I pity this country now I really do.
Jennifer Hynes, Plymouth, UK
Most children have grasped the rudimentary technical skills required to read by the age of seven, whatever methods used. What teachers should be allowed to focus on is fostering a love of reading; this is what affects performance as the children get older. Parents have an important responsibility to instil a respect for and love of books by reading to their children, visiting libraries and being seen to regularly read themselves.
Liz N, Oxford, UK
Haven't we been here before? Wasn't it disastrous last time? If phonetics teaching suits some, it doesn't mean it suits others. Teachers are surely able to pick up on different learning styles and implement them - pretty fundamental in their studies. I don't believe the method needs reforming - I believe there should be more to encourage children to read and that could be done so easily through the media. Unfortunately parents cannot be relied on to do this as many I have come across cannot read themselves and therefore have never picked up a book for pleasure (or otherwise!)
Hope Full, UK
My mother used to read to my sister and I every night before bed. We could both read before we went to school. Both of my own children have been read to in the same way, following the words as they are read out loud. Both of them could read before they went to infant school. No special methods. Just time and effort. My own view is that all these different teaching methods are proposed by educationalists trying to make a name for themselves. Education isn't difficult, but some wish to make appear so for the furtherance of their own careers.
Jeremy, Kettering. England
Of course what works for some does not work for others; that is true of everything in life. Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of the resources necessary to treat every child as an individual, nor of the time for "scientific trials". Before Labour, in its wisdom, "modernised" teaching methods 40 years ago, classical teaching turned out kids who could read and write. Go back to teaching grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. Hard work? You bet, but anything worthwhile always is and the prize is great. Children who need more personalised attention should get it where they always did, at home.
Barry, Deeping St James, England
If yu reed yuzing fonics how wil yu ever lern to spel?
Oona, London
I am a "reading partner" in a primary school, and I work with 7-10 year-olds. They enjoy reading and get a genuine kick out of being able to work out long words, but I find they are bored by the majority of their books: classics like The Tiger Who Came To Tea are still popular, but a lot of boring classroom-reading drivel is published for children that fails to engage their interest at all.
Antonia, London
I'm only 21, I was taught to read using the same methods as primary schools use today and I am an avid reader and consider myself to have a wide ranging vocabulary and good literary skills. I don't think it's the teaching that is at fault, more the fact that children nowadays are plonked in front of a screen and told to get on with it. People (teachers/parents) need to drum up more enthusiasm for books and not encourage their children to live their lives through a screen, be it a computer or television!
Laura, Newcastle, England
| It has a lot more to do with the fact that children today see books as old-fashioned, boring, and outdated |
As a library service employee, I am ceaselessly astonished at the terrible levels of literacy in today's children. But I'm not sure that it is the teaching methods that are entirely at fault. I think it has a lot more to do with the fact that children today see books as old-fashioned, boring, and outdated by television and the internet. It is hard to encourage kids to make an effort to acquire information when they are so used to having it drip-fed to them, complete with glitzy graphics and youth culture buzz values. Reading is an active mental activity; kids today cannot be bothered to focus on a book long enough to realise that it may contain something they might enjoy or find interesting.
Paul Raven, Southsea, Hants
Every child is different. Teachers need the freedom to apply a combination of all the methods, at their discretion! Yes phonics is great and my youngest learnt this way and reads voraciously at a very advanced level. But his friend didn't respond the same way and learnt through word recognition. I have no doubt that they will be at the same level after a few years. I believe the real culprit for many failing readers is the proliferation of game boys and addiction to TV. Thank goodness for writers like Jacqueline Wilson and JK Rowling who have revived an interest in reading.
Caroline, Somerset
I cannot understand why the methods to teach reading have turned into a them or us situation. I teach and I have found some children learn quickly with phonetics, others prefer the whole word system. We should treat children as individuals and assess each child and find the form that suits them. Individuals have individual needs, and in the early years it really does seem to be one way or the other for each child, with a meeting up of the two as the children get older.
Gaynor French, Norfolk
God, save us from politicians. They treat education like a fashion. They only way standards will rise is if they stop meddling every sixth months and leave things to teachers - they know what works best for their pupils.
Dave Sooper, UK
Having taught children educated using phonics, I have grave reservations; I am sure it should only last for a short time and then just be an introduction to words and word sounds; a grounding, if you like, for real reading. Overuse can lead to real long-term literacy problems that cannot be fixed.
Martin, London, UK
It's quite obvious, as a parent of 45, that standards have slipped in general. The whole education system needs taking back at least 40 years in time. However, who will educate the younger teachers?
Chris Bacon, Milton Keynes, England
The problem (as ever) is liberal teachers trying to be trendy and espousing a lot of child centred clap trap. As a psychology graduate I know that the way children's brains are wired has not changed in millions of years so something which worked 30 years ago will work now.
Matt Munro, Bristol, UK
Don't know what the fuss is about. According to government statistics everyone has improved above average by the time they're 16 anyway!
JP, London, UK
I am not surprised that so many children cannot read as parents as they are too busy earning money instead of making sure that their children can learn correctly!
Evonne Okafor, London, UK
I wouldn't call it reform, but rather evolution. There is always room to get better. The important thing is that change is informed by real evidence from real controlled, scientific trials.
Steve Linton, Crail, Fife
As a parent of a four-year-old who starts school this September, I have taught my son to read. He is reading books designed for eight and nine-year-olds. Schools should help with reading however if parents set aside half an hour a day to read with their kids it would make so much difference.
David Shaw, Leeds, England
As a trainee teacher I have seen first-hand the benefits of phonics, however, this cannot work alone. Teachers need to be taught the system as many (including myself) have these systems thrown at us without any guidance or training. But most importantly of all the best readers are those whose parents take an active involvement in reading.
Chrissie Moore, Surrey, UK I have five children and they all learnt to read using phonics, the so-called rubbish of Janet and John, Letterland, etc. Sounding out words makes more sense than trying to memorise. Parents should not rely on the schools to teach their children. How about when they are very young having a 'letter day', choosing a letter and during the day finding all the things you can beginning with that letter. It makes learning fun!
Sue, Leatherhead, UK
What worried me was when my son was five he was encouraged to guess words and not corrected if the word was similar to the correct word. Now aged nine he cannot understand that he should read what is written on the page and not something with a similar meaning.
Caron, England
As a child, my mother taught me to read, and I was reading on my own by the age of 3. She taught me to recognise whole words, simply because a very high proportion of English words are not spelt the way they sound. My youngest brother was taught phonetically, and my mother was advised by the school not to teach him at home as it would interfere with what they were doing. Result? At the tender age of 40 his spelling is appalling, and hardly ever reads. I'm not sure either way works better for every child, but I would advocate that parents are not pushed out in favour of any method
Elaine, Letchworth Garden City UK
I'm currently a 20-year-old undergraduate at university and I was taught to read partly by my primary school and partly by my parents. They taught me to enjoy reading for the sake of reading and quite early on I became enthused with children's books such as Swallows and Amazons and the like. I used to spend a lot of my free time reading and I feel that because of this I have a much higher degree of literacy today. The problem these days is that reading is not 'cool' and the children are all playing video games instead. It's attitudes that have to be changed, not teaching methods.
Andy Linham, Cardiff
We already teach in this way - just part of many ways! The problem is not whether the children can read the words but whether they understand them - phonics will not help this!
Lisa Milbourn, Coventry
It's important to note that systematic synthetic phonics is something which is done first and fast. The exclusive emphasis on teaching children to read words by sounding out the letters and blending the sounds goes on for a matter of only 10-16 weeks. During this time, teachers foster comprehension by reading more advanced books aloud to the children. Once the children have learned how the alphabetic code works, they progress to reading books independently, so this is not a narrow and restrictive approach. An added bonus is that children tend to spell much better if they are taught this way as beginners.
Jennifer Chew, Egham, Surrey
As a secondary school teacher it has been clear for a long time that primary school children were not benefiting from government strategy. Politicians and voters need to realise that just because they went to school they do not automatically have a clear understanding of teaching children. Leave the teachers to teach, stop the constant interfering!
David Stowell, Ripley
| Governments need to, once and for all, let the professionals get on with the job they know how to do |
Reading doesn't so much need reforming as left alone. Governments need to, once and for all, let the professionals get on with the job they know how to do instead of constantly interfering and imposing scheme after scheme, strategy after strategy at enormous cost. The literacy strategy, according even to an MP's committee has been a failure. Most teachers could have told them that; it was nothing but a specious piece of PR by a government obsessed with looking good. Synthetic phonics has been around in one form or another for a long time, and many teachers routinely use such methods, when they're not being told to do something else. The message is: leave the teachers alone. After all, they don't go around telling dentists and plumbers what to do all the time, do they?
Ian, London, UK For 30 years parents have known how to teach children to read and have watched in despair as "the experts" have got it wrong. All the time we've been told not to be so old fashioned and to move with the times. All the while standards have fallen, success rates have fallen, reading ages have fallen. I am no supporter of Ruth Kelly, but it's nice to see a politician who ignores the experts and goes with a bit of common sense for a change. On a wider scale, close down the Department of Education and let teachers and parents do what we all know to be right.
John R Smith, UK
This is the way I was taught in Northern Ireland (I'm only 26). My friends and I have a high standard of spelling and reading ability. It's more time consuming but ultimately it will benefit today's young. When I was eight I was rated as having the reading age of a 16-year-old, the results speak for themselves.
Stuart Kelly, Grimsby, Lincs
| All children are individual and what works for one may not work for them all |
It does need revising, as a mother to a dyslexic child I had to pay for my son to be privately taught to read. From age 6-11 he went one hour per week and was taught to read properly, the phonetic way he was taught at school did not work. Let us still appreciate that some children will find reading difficult. Let us accept that there are other ways of teaching children to read and add synthetic phonetics to the system that is already in place. Please let's not ditch what is there and replace it with synthetic phonetics - teachers know how to teach children to read, educate them on this scheme and they have the decision on what systems to use. All children are individual and what works for one may not work for them all. Ben went on to get 9 GCSE's 3 at A, 4 at B and 2 C's plus 3 A2's and 2 AS levels. At 7 he couldn't read!
Vivienne A Brooks, Winchester, Hants Unless some local authorities changed in recent years, phonetic teaching has been done in Scotland for many years and is not, as the report suggests, a pilot project. I'm 28 and was taught this way, as were my sisters who are much older than me. It is a far superior method of teaching as you can work out what the word says by sounding it out in your head. Some will claim that you're not really understanding the word when you're reading it but once you've read the word you do put it into the context of the sentence. I could read by the age of five using this method and fully support it.
Gillian, Dumbarton
Teaching does play a part in developing children's reading skills, however, I am firmly of the opinion that the parents should teach and encourage their children in reading and writing as well. When I have a child, I am not going to leave it to the schools to teach my child, I will teach them myself.
Emma, Leeds
Standards have slipped due to the constant interference of the government and their special advisers.
Bumble, Dartford, UK
Teaching is obviously a significant part of this, but I'm of the opinion any system that relates the alphabet to sounds, and builds up the different sounds into words in a coherent way is fine, if taught in a well-structured way. But parents need to take responsibility. If you want your children to be good readers, you need to sit and read to them when they're little, read with them as they grow, and help them find books that stimulate and interest them as they begin to read themselves, taking time to listen and correct and encourage them. Trust me, it works a treat!
Mark, Leicester
Yet another change in how children are taught. When will governments learn that if you chop and change, nothing will improve? Why should a child meet a target at 11 and then be branded a failure if they don't, I took the 11 plus at school and luckily I passed but I felt under real pressure to pass something no 11-year-old should have to go through, then we wonder why they become disaffected.
Adrian Cannon, Edinburgh, Scotland
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