issive attitudes to whole language, a position that is not underpinned by the research. While there remains no doubt that phonics teaching in general is one important component in the teaching of reading, the research certainly does not suggest the complete exclusion of whole language teaching.” - Professor Dominic Wyse
- Phonics teaching is most likely to be effective for children aged five to six. Phonics teaching with children younger than this is not likely to be effective.
- A focus on whole texts and reading for meaning, to contextualise the teaching of other skills and knowledge, should drive pedagogy.
- Classroom teachers using their professional judgement to ensure coherence of the approach to teaching phonics and reading with other relevant teaching in their classroom is most likely to be effective. Insistence on particular schemes, scripted lessons, and other inflexible approaches is unlikely to be optimal.
- Where robust research evidence exists, this should be the required basis for governments’ recommendations. An independent body, possibly like the Office for Education Research proposed by the Royal Society/British Academy report (British Academy & The Royal Society, 2018), is one appropriate way forward.
- There is a need for a much more collaborative policy ethos where policy makers, teachers and researchers work together, over longer time scales than in the past, to evolve England’s national curriculum and associated pedagogy on the basis of the most robust evidence of effective teaching methods.