Phonics screening test

[Mashabell]

There is a very good article on the madness of the phonics screening test in todays i (the 20 p version of The Independent) and some of its silliest effects.

I'm afraid we will have to agree to disagree learnandsay ... IMHO what squeezed is doing is like me handing you a car maintenance manual and saying there you go you know everything you need to know to service cars.

learnandsay while children are being failed by the system I will keep on beating people up as you put it

Ad break mrz, you are outrageous. You have no idea about the quality of what I am or am not providing for my student. You are just sore because you can't be arsed to do the same for yours. I must be doing something right since she's getting outstanding reports from the head, from our LA literacy adviser and rom her uni tutors. What an insult to her and to me and based on no evidence whatsoever. You're a flipping disgrace.

I don't know. You might be right. But shouldn't we look at squeezed's students before we beat her up? If she was trained by Miskin and is good at what she does then maybe she knows what she's doing. Phonics can be a bit involved at times. But it's not rocket science. I'm pretty sure a conscientious student who wants to pick it up (assuming they weren't taught it as children) could pick it all up in a couple of months, maybe sooner depending on application. We don't have to assume that the student teacher is a moron.

I only know what you have told me squeezed which is why I keep asking when do you train your student to teach phonics ...but you can't or won't answer

learnandsay as I said earlier I don't care if she teaches Miskin or Mickey Mouse method all I've asked is when she trains her student to teach phonics ...since she says I should be doing this and I really don't feel I'm able to do this adequately during a school placement when I'm in the classroom full time and teach intervention groups before, after school and during my lunch ...I'm genuinely interested in how others manage.

Didn't squeezed say that they meet at 7.30 each day a page ago?

Yes, but you're assuming the student already knows sweet FA. The student might be a Miskin junky. The two might only have to compare notes. Who knows? The student might come from mumsnet gifted and talented board and have actually invented phonics.

Yes learnandsay squeezed did say they meet at 7.30 and that she works from 7.30-6.00 but she hasn't said when she trains her student to teach phonics ...

She also said she uses a mix of RWI and JP [not sure that really is Miskin]

So once again.

In her first week we went through the basics - pronunciation, technical terms, phases and principles. As I already said, we met in the mornings and after school. Then she watched me teach for a week - we discussed this and I took her to our network language group set up by the LA. Her university had run a session before she came on the differences between synthetic and analytic phonics and the research evidence to support the former. They'd also been through the differences between dominant models - L&S, Jolly Phonics and Miskin mostly, but it was hard for her to understand without having a group to listen to and assess. We then co-planned her sessions, with me modelling bits she wasn't sure about, such as ensuring the shwar sound disappeared etc. she'd then teach it to me first, get feedback and then deliver to the kids. Now she's coming along with great ideas of her own - a brilliant new Phonic Pharoah game for example which the children can play to enhance their phonics knowledge in free play time....

And, why am I bothering to explain myself to you? I must be mad. Perhaps if you had taught properly in the first place you wouldn't need to be doing so much bloody intervention.

Oh and btw - JP actions support Miskin well - read up on the spacial memory systems of the brain and you'll see why

Isn't it possible to use JP at the outset and then move onto RWI later? Miskin can get a bit involved. Children who watch Sesame St can still read Enid Blyton.

So now you are mixing L&S phases with RWI and JP actions?

For your information squeezed I'm the SENCO and my interventions have nothing to do with my teaching ... perhaps you don't deliver OT and SaLT interventions in your school?

It's possible to do lots of things learnandsay but the big thing about Miskin is she insists on fidelity to her programme ... (personally I'm not a fan of RWI partly because it is so prescriptive)

squeezed, calm down. Mrz is perfectly entitled to ask good questions. She shouldn't beat you up. But she should ask reasonable questions. (Take a break and watch your TV programme.)

So what if (for the sake of argument,) squeezed, or any teacher like her, admires JP for its ability to capture ignorant young children and draw them in to phonics. But also admires RWI for its ability to take children who have a basic knowledge of phonics and stretch them and their ability to read.

And what if that teacher was a pretty darn phonicsy person herself and seemed to have no problem transferring children from one system to the other?

And what if she had students who were pretty fired up about JP, and maybe had access to Miskin's training tools though squeezed, or a teacher like her. And they took these tools home and studied them. (The tools are books.) Then the students all fired up came back and discussed their ideas with squeezed, or a teacher like her, and squeezed, being a veteran of Miskin's phonics gave the student teacher the benefit of her advice. What then?

She's entitled to ask GOOD questions, yes, not the same bad one over and over. It does all smack of sour grapes so I'm not really that upset. But thank you for joining in learnandsay :)

I was hoping squeezed could clarify her statement that I should be teaching my student during the 60% of the time the student is teaching my class but apparently she can't help. Of course we do all the things she describes but none of those provide the student with the depth of knowledge they need to teach children to read and write. Students & NQTs complain they have not been adequately prepared for the classroom by their universities ...

If it's such a bad question squeezed why can't you help me out and answer it.

Wait, wait, wait. Mrz, then you're not really asking about squeezed's procedures at all. You're cross because she seems to have criticised you. Well, perhaps she shouldn't have done.

Maybe we could split the difference and start by finding out how squeezed looks at teaching during class time.

When my student is teaching my class and I am not observing her, I do the jobs I would normally do before and after school so that I can dedicate that time to her. I have made this clear several times. Which bit don't you understand?

I would really like to ensure my student is adequately equipped to teach reading and writing well but for that she needs to be trained well not just a quick overview from me and expected to follow planning we put together after watching me teach.

When my student is teaching I am in the classroom with her ...

Ah but she gets far more than a quick overview. She's getting one to one tuition and coaching and it seems to be working. I really don't understand why you are so irked!