Queensland, Aus: Catholic schools opting to trial a Year 1 phonics check - progress indeed!

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Debbie_Hepplewhite
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Queensland, Aus: Catholic schools opting to trial a Year 1 phonics check - progress indeed!

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This is great news - voluntary trialling of the Year One phonics check in Catholic schools in Queensland. Way to go!!!
Queensland Catholic schools follow a sound pathway to literacy

REBECCA URBAN, The Australian,

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018


Catholic schools across Queensland will begin trialling a Year 1 phonics check next term, making the system the first outside the government sector to embrace the program that has been credited with boosting literacy levels in Britain.

Following the recent rollout of phonics screening at government schools in South Australia, the Queensland Catholic Education Commission has decided to undertake a trial at 40 schools.

The check, based on a similar one developed in Britain, was advocated by former education minister Simon Birmingham, but has been resisted by teaching unions and most state education authorities, including in Queensland.

But Queensland Catholic Education Commission chief executive Lee-Ann Perry said the school system was keen to ensure its practices were based on evidence.

“We looked at the South Australian trial, which has some positive outcomes, and thought it would be a good idea to explore it ourselves as another potential tool we could use in regards to minimising the chances of students failing through the gaps,” Dr Perry said.

The checks involve a teacher sitting with a student and testing their ability to read 40 words. Half are real words, such as chin, deck, horn, while the other half are pseudo words, such as lig, mep, gax, which have been chosen because they could not be read from memory and are considered a purer test of phonics ability.

The check typically takes five to 10 minutes and its advocates argue it is essential given explicit phonics instruction is considered by researchers to be the most effective method of teaching children to read. The system teaches children to break down words into simple sounds, and blend sounds to make words.

Despite its success, its employment in schools varies as many teachers prefer a whole-language approach to teaching reading, where students pick up skills in the context of a text. Any phonics instruction tends to be incidental.

Dr Perry said Catholic schools across Queensland employed a variety of approaches to teaching reading and schools had been enthusiastic about the trial. She said that, depending on the results, checks could be expanded to more schools the following year.

St Martin’s Catholic Primary School in Carina, Brisbane, is one of the schools participating in the trial. Principal Geoff Sullivan said he was keen to have a look at the check and how it might work. The school employs a “phonics in context” approach to teaching reading, which eschews sequential lists of sounds or letters. Instead, children are taught word identification while reading a text.

“We know that evidence-based practices are the way to go,” Mr Sullivan said. “So we’re really interested to see if the check gives us information on how the kids are all going in regards to accessing their phonics skills.”

Centre for Independent Studies senior research fellow Jennifer Buckingham, who chaired a federal review of phonics teaching in schools, said the QCEC had shown great foresight by trialling the Year 1 phonics check.

“It is an excellent opportunity to assess student learning and take stock of teacher practice in this fundamental area of early-reading instruction,” she said.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation ... 4bfc7f0fda
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