Aus: Waiting-to-fail parents call for phonics check

[Debbie_Hepplewhite]

There is a very strong movement of various dyslexia organisations in Australia in support of teachers providing systematic synthetic phonics teaching for both mainstream and intervention - and in support of the adoption of a phonics screening check in Australia akin to the Year One phonics screening check in England. ABC NEWS includes this piece:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-03/w ... fmredir=sm

'Kids are feeling dumb': Parents push for smarter teaching of dyslexic students

Every single day at school was a battle for Walter Smithers, as he struggled with reading.

"It's hard not to feel like a failure when everything you're doing isn't your strength," he said.

"When you've got dyslexia, everything you do at school is difficult.

"School wasn't my favourite time. I didn't enjoy it and there was a lot of pain."

It was even harder for Walter to watch his twin brother, Louis, excel at school.

While Louis got a scholarship at a private school, Walter dropped out.

Key points:

Most schools in Australia do not test for literacy
Advocates are calling for the introduction of "systematic phonics" screening in schools
The method has helped boost literacy levels in the UK