06: WALES, WESTERN MAIL

Phonics the Welsh way for reading success

Mar 23 2006
Aled Blake,
Western Mail Newspaper, Wales

A WELSH headteacher who has used the phonics system of learning to read and write for a decade warned that England is approaching it the wrong way.

Vicky Meadows, headteacher at Windsor Clive Infants' School in Cardiff, uses the Thrass method of phonics. But she maintains the English system is the wrong one.

Ms Meadows said, "The Government hasn't recognised that within phonics there are less effective methods than others. Some of us have been doing this for 10 years and we've been weeding out those methods which are less effective than others."

Wales will not follow the English example and Education Minister Jane Davidson said, "We have decided against a prescriptive one-size-fits-all strategy for the promotion of literacy in Wales.

"Instead, we have placed the emphasis on local authorities working with schools to develop and to implement local strategies.
"This approach ensures that strategies build on local strengths and are tailored to local circumstances.

"Advice from Estyn is that most schools in Wales use a phonics programme as one element of their overall approach to the development of literacy skills."

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