Serious concern about Phonics Screening Check

'We are very concerned about the impact the Year 1 Phonics Screen, and the wider emphasis on phonics, on children with speech, language and communication needs'

The Communication Trust, a consortium of nearly 50 leading voluntary sector organisations specialising in speech, language and communication in children and young people, has expressed its concern over plans to roll out the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check. The results from the first round of screening have recently been published by the Department for Education.

The Phonics Screening Check is a short, light-touch assessment to confirm whether pupils have learned phonic decoding to an appropriate standard. It also identifies children who need extra help so they can receive extra support to improve their reading skills. They can then retake the check so schools can track them until they can decode.

But independent evaluation undertaken by Sheffield Hallam University showed most teachers still had difficulties in judging whether a word was read correctly, including in children who were good readers but had speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).

Anita Kerwin-Nye, director of The Communication Trust, said: "We fully support the Government's ambition to improve literacy standards in English schools, and welcome the Department for Education's support for communication, language and literacy in the Early Years Foundation stage.

"However we are very concerned about the impact the Year 1 Phonics Screen, and the wider emphasis on phonics, on children with speech, language and communication needs. This concern is backed up by the findings of the evaluation carried out by Sheffield Hallam University. This showed that nearly 29 per cent of schools felt the experience of the Phonics Screening Check was negative for children with SLCN and that only 35 per cent felt the check accurately assessed the decoding abilities of children with speech difficulties.

"These figures alone suggest significant changes need to be made to the way the Screen is implemented and I have urgently requested a meeting with Nick Gibb MP, Minister of State for Education to discuss the precise details. Phonics is a valid approach to teaching reading but it is essential that it is delivered as part of a well-rounded approach to communication and literacy skills."

For more information about the Trust visit www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk or www.hello.org.uk

News from Australia & New Zealand

This is a new section of the website for items of news from New Zealand and Australia

Starting in 2012, we will issue occasional special TAC Bulletins with news from these countries for our contacts in these countries.

Please contact us by e-mail to be put on the list for these special Australia and New Zealand TAC Bulletins.

We welcome your items of news, publications, reports, questions, etc. Please work to a maximum of 250 words and provide links to any further information.

Please click This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to send us an e-mail.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Peter

TACinterconnections

Sharing information, helping build the knowledge base and promoting teamwork

around children and young people with disabilities and special needs

Peter Limbrick, Interconnections, Parks Farm, Clifford, UK, HR3 5HH

Tel/fax: 01497 831550

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Web: www.teamaroundthechild.com

Employment supports for disabled people – a new research project

A twoyear study into the cost effectiveness of different models of employment support for disabled people

The National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) have been granted funding from the National Institute for Health Research's School of Social Care Research (SSCR) to carry out a two-year study into the cost effectiveness of different models of employment support for disabled people, including those with mental health problems.

A recent review carried out by NDTi shows that evidence around employment support is currently very patchy, especially looking across different client groups. Through addressing this research gap we hope to enable people who commission employment support to make more informed choices and decisions.

The study will focus on the following questions:

1. What is the 'value for money' impact of current employment supports, in terms of people consequently achieving paid work?

2. How does that 'value for money' impact vary between different models of employment support? Do they result in different outcomes?

3. How is the 'value for money' impact affected by different approaches to implementing local employment strategies?

As part of this we will also look at the influence of (and links between) various factors, such as types of work, hours worked, type of disability, age/ different life stages of people needing support etc.

The research will involve national scale data collection as well as in-depth research and analysis with a sample of around 12 local authorities. The findings will generate a wide range of evidence-based materials that will help local authorities plan, buy and deliver more effective employment support for disabled people. It will conclude with an action learning programme to help authorities implement the findings.

For more details click here

Public service mutuals

local The Cabinet Office wants to see 1 million public service staff working in mutuals by 2015.

Extracts from an article by Andrew Laird in Social Enterprise:

"This week the Cabinet Office launched the Mutuals Support Programme which will facilitate the provision of support to public sector staff who wish to form an independent mutual or social enterprise from which to continue delivering their service. This is very positive step - but the programme has been launched into rather rough seas."

"I believe the only way to genuinely build in sustainable efficiency is to push resources as far towards the front line as possible to empower front line staff. Make them responsible and accountable for the effective use of their limited resources. I would argue that the most effective and cleanest way to do this is to allow staff to group together and form a public service mutual. This creates an environment where it is in the staff's interests to innovate at a micro level and find better and more efficient ways of doing things."

"The Cabinet Office wants to see 1 million public service staff working in mutuals by 2015. However, as public sector funds continue to be squeezed many public sector managers are reverting to the old fashioned centralising model - and many consultants are advising it! This is not only a leap in exactly the wrong direction but makes it harder for teams to gain their freedom through mutualisation in the future as they are inextricably caught up in the central bureaucracy."

To see the full article click here

Andrew Laird is a director of Mutual Ventures, a social enterprise which supports frontline staff to set up mutuals

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