Are teachers technically competent in teaching phonics and other basic skills?
TEACHING LITERACY The National Literacy Strategy, including the literacy hour, is non-statutory and special schools and PRUs may have alternative approaches designed to improve standards in communication including reading and writing. You must form a view about the impact of the school’s strategies on the quality of teaching and the standards achieved. Very good teachers of literacy skills combine competence in the full range of technical knowledge with the flair to put it across in ways which make language come alive for children. Where it is appropriate you should be looking for: • thorough knowledge of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) Framework for teaching; • secure knowledge and understanding of the literacy knowledge and skills to be taught; • secure knowledge and understanding of the literacy skills which pupils need; • a good understanding of how to teach phonics including phonological awareness, the blending of sounds in words for reading, segmenting words into sounds for
