Literacy: Teaching Methods

(asked on 24th January 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria his Department used to decide which systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) programmes to validate.


Answered by
Robin Walker Portrait
Robin Walker
This question was answered on 28th January 2022

A comprehensive review of robust studies by the Education Endowment Foundation found that systematic phonics is the most effective approach for teaching pupils to decode, including older pupils struggling with decoding, when embedded in a rich literacy environment. That is why the government has made systematic phonics teaching part of the national curriculum, embedded it as a component of teacher training, introduced the phonics screening check and made reading a core part of Ofsted primary inspections.

The department and Ofsted do not mandate that schools use a validated programme to teach systematic synthetic phonics (SSP). What is important is that schools take an approach that is rigorous, systematic, used with fidelity (any resources used should exactly match the Grapheme Phoneme Correspondence progression of their chosen SSP approach), and achieves strong results for all pupils, including the most disadvantaged. To support the high-quality teaching of phonics, the department recommends using a programme from the validated list of SSP programmes, but this is not mandatory. If schools are receiving support through the English Hubs programme to improve their phonics teaching, they must follow a programme from the validated list.

Validation indicates that an SSP programme has been self-assessed by its publisher and assessed by a panel of experts, and that both consider it to meet all of the most recent Department for Education criteria for an effective SSP programme, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/phonics-teaching-materials-core-criteria-and-self-assessment/validation-of-systematic-synthetic-phonics-programmes-supporting-documentation#essential-core-criteria. The department sought views on the validation criteria from SSP experts before publishing a final version.

The department’s list of validated programmes has been updated on gov.uk and there will be further updates following future validation panels. The updated list includes a number of options, including school-to-school support programmes and not for profit options. We recommend schools contact individual programme providers for more information on programme prices.

Schools have the flexibility to decide how to prioritise their spending to invest in a range of resources and activities that will best support their staff and pupils. Schools can choose to use their core funding to buy an SSP programme.

The department has made a further £5 million funding available to schools to purchase validated SSP programmes. Eligible schools must have a minimum of 22% of their pupils eligible for the pupil premium or service pupil premium and will be situated in a local authority area listed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/choosing-a-phonics-teaching-programme/list-of-phonics-teaching-programmes.

In addition, the department has funded various initiatives to improve the teaching of phonics in schools. Between 2011 and 2013, we provided £23.7 million of matched funding for resources and training for 14,000 schools. In 2018, we launched a £26.3 million English Hubs programme dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on supporting children making the slowest progress in reading, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds. We have since invested a further £17 million in this school-to-school improvement programme, which focuses on SSP, early language, and reading for pleasure. Since its launch, the English Hubs programme has provided appropriate and targeted support to several thousands of schools across England.

Reticulating Splines