Part 3 - Synthetic phonics introduced more widely - Sue Lloyd | Sue Lloyd

Part 3 – Synthetic phonics introduced more widely

Information is provided about the progression of Jolly Phonics, the availability of other synthetic-phonics programmes and the synthetic-phonics principles provided on the Reading Reform Foundation website.

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Part 3: Synthetic phonics introduced more widely

Sara and I continued teaching for many years, while at the same time developing new materials. In 2003, I retired from teaching and concentrated on providing Jolly Phonics training around the world. This brought me in touch with many teachers. Over the years, I have been told of the improvements that occurred when these teachers changed to synthetic-phonics teaching. Many of them measured their improvements on standardised reading and spelling tests. Several examples can be found on the Jolly Learning website: http://jollylearning.co.uk/2011/03/16/case-studies/

Similarly, several research studies can be accessed at the following link: http://www.jollylearning.co.uk/evidence/research/

After many years of training teachers, it seemed more sensible to make this website, which would provide teachers, parents and interested adults with an understanding of synthetic-phonics teaching, how the alphabetic code works, the reasons why some children struggle to read and write and how to solve their problems.

This type of teaching takes time to inwardly digest and master. This is why I felt that it was important to make the website free and easily accessible, so that information on the website could be mulled over in small manageable chunks.

Jolly Phonics is not the only synthetic-phonics programme. There are other programmes available. They may vary in the order and in the way of introducing the letter sounds but, when the synthetic-phonics principles are adhered to, the results are effective, too. In the end it is a matter of head teachers and teachers looking at the different programmes, making sure they follow the synthetic-phonics principles, and choosing the programme that they like the best.

Part 1 – Two changes in the method of teaching

Information is provided about two radical changes that were made to the way the children were taught to read and write, which resulted in much higher results on standardized reading tests.

Part 2 – Start of Jolly Phonics

Brief details are given about the decline in reading standards, which were attributed to a lack of phonics. At about the same time Christopher Jolly started publishing Jolly Phonics, a synthetic phonics programme.

Part 4 – Conclusion

In this last section, my heartfelt thanks go to my colleagues, friends and family who have contributed to the making of this website and who have supported me all the way.