I really should start this blog with, ‘Another thing I get asked about a lot is…’ because this issue comes up time and again: timescale.
Here in England, where daily phonics is mandatory as initial instruction in mainstream schools, it is structured to fit a schedule. Children start school, as a rising 5-year-old, in Reception class and begin learning to read, spell and write via the school’s chosen SSP. These programmes are highly structured in terms of a scope and sequence but also set a specific schedule of work for each term through Reception to the end of Y1. In Y2 any children who have not kept up continue to have phonics instruction and literacy for all children is still actively taught via the phonics foundations. From Y3 onwards the focus shifts to spelling, once again using phonics as the foundation, but also introducing morphology. Yet, the impression many teachers have is that phonics is 'job done' in a couple of years. This does not reflect the on-going nature of literacy instruction with phonics principles at the core.
When we think about learners with a complex profile of needs, we need to bear in mind that this timescale is completely unrealistic*. The main reason for this is the need for lots and lots of repetition in instruction that gives the child an opportunity to orthographically map words over and over again until they are stored in long term phonological memory and can be retrieved with automaticity. The number of repetitions required to achieve this varies between all individuals but certainly for learners with additional needs this may be a significantly high number. This understandably extends the time frame of instruction for these learners. On top of this the pace of instruction may also be slowed by the need to use additional access strategies which eat up precious lesson time but are crucial for these pupils. In practical terms, we simply get through less tasks and activities during each lesson because we are responding to the child’s needs.
We need to jettison the idea that phonics should be done and dusted for all children in 2 years and if they haven't succeeded in that timescale then it's not worth pursuing.
Children with complex needs require planned extended phonics provision and the reality may be that this is likely to be a long time. What makes it more frustrating for us teachers is that it is not easy to predict or set a specific schedule in advance; we have to go at the pace that is right for the individual. In the current climate of targets and endpoints, this requirement for flexibility makes us (and senior leaders!) feel uncomfortable, but we must take a longer term view on this and think of the rewards ahead for the child, not about meeting a specific deadline.
* Note: The timescale issue is the only reason that the Phonics for SEN programme is not validated by the DfE. It fulfilled all other criteria but will never fulfil the criteria on timescale of instruction.
With thanks to Discover Inclusion for the image of a child using a voice output device or talker.
Comments