Here's a great post by Dr Louisa Moats - allaying some of the misinformation that abounds regarding 'dyslexia', including 'giftedness', IQ, phonological awareness and progress in reading: Staying Grounded in Reading Realities: A Better Approach for Struggling Readers http://www.voyagersopris.com/edv...

Circulating in the DDOLL network, news about Minister Nick Gibb speaking in Australia: Facing facts in education: What the evidence says about improving schools by The Centre for Independent Studies If you're lucky enough to be in Sydney on 11th of April you should not miss this event. The event des...

Thanks to Kerry Hempenstall for flagging up Nick Gibb's speech at the Education World Forum that took place in London from 22-25 January 2017, and at which Nick Gibb clearly outlined his direction of travel! http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/28473/1/Nick%20Gibb_%20the%20evidence%20in%20favour%20of%20teacher-led...

Dr Marlynne Grant points out that systematic synthetic phonics provision works with 'all' children. She writes: “This longitudinal research has shown that Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) is effective for the reading, spell and writing skills of all children, not just for the high-flyers and middl...

Here is an interesting article posted by Felicity Nelson with reference to specialists Pamela Snow, Mandy Nayton and Anne Castles. It includes different perspectives of what 'dyslexia' is or isn't: http://medicalrepublic.com.au/dyslexia-even-exist/8157 Does Dyslexia Even Exist? People who have been ...

In tweeting about this issue, here are some comments made because it is no surprise that some tweeters were highlighting and supporting the anti-phonics message (including a screenshot from the report itself re those who don't 'pass' the phonics check) in the report so I considered that this needed ...

I have now read through this latest Driver Youth Trust report as flagged up by Helen Ward in the TES so I am now in a position to comment regarding the thrust of Helen Ward's piece that a 'focus on phonics' excludes children with SEND: Through the Looking Glass: Is universal provision what it seems?...

Following Greg's post on Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence, he was approached by several teachers from Wales worried about a similar type of curriculum mandated in Wales. Greg wrote this about the Welsh curriculum: Bad times ahead for education in Wales https://gregashman.wordpress.com/2017/03/24...

Gordon Askew addresses this idea that 'some children need something different' here: http://ssphonix.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/and-now-for-something-completely.html And now for something completely different I am often asked about the role of phonics in 'catch up'. Some learners are in KS2, KS3 or beyo...

This is a piece in SchoolsWeek written by Chris Rossiter himself: http://schoolsweek.co.uk/send-learners-are-airbrushed-from-policy/ SEND learners are airbrushed from education policy Influential literacy reports by leading think tanks and charities have ignored the thousands of children who will ne...