Y1,2,3 composite streams for phonics? Anyone else?!

[NeverFullyDressedWithoutAScarf]

Just that really. School have introduced this this week with a brief e mail. I was in fully composite classes in the 80s and have always loathed them (it really didn't work for me) but this is only for 15 mins a day (I think, from dd's y1 explanation!).

Does anyone else have this and what is meant to be the advantage? I get why they stream, I just don't get why the need to involve children at vastly different stages of maturity?

Maybe I am just behind the times, so would be happy to find out what the thinking behind it is?

It wouldn't really bother me for a 15-30 minute phonics lesson. the school obviously feel they have children at different levels across the years to warrant the Y1-3 composites. The advantage means that children can all work at their own phonics level and not feel like they are being held back/pushed on too fast.
However I am quite surprised as a lot of talk in schools at the moment is often about not streaming/setting and doing whole class teaching including for phonics and just differentiating within.

perhaps they've started Ruth Miskin. RWInc is based on ability groups very closely matching the child's phonic knowledge-I think there are around 10 different groupings on the scheme. When we started we were running 9 groups across R/1/2/3 ( we are a small school) We are now down to 5 groups across R/1/2 as the scheme has become embedded.

They are doing RWinc at my dd's school.It seems to be working well so far, and is really benefitting dd2 (yr 1) who has been struggling so far.

At my school some chn don't know their letter sounds and others are kearning abut suffixes - very hard to teach all together in one class!

*learning

my dd1 ( year 2) has just started doing 20 mins phonics a day. There are 6 ability groups across years 1 and 2. I think its good as she gets to work with children of a similar ability. In her last school she just ending up helping the girl who sat next to her with the result that my dd was bored and her friends confidence was not helped by thinking that my dd needed to help her !