In June 2023, Mike Glavin wrote a blog entitled Beyond My Relationship With A Phonic Fairy.
A link to it can be found here
Since then he has engaged with ten schools in Wales to:
- determine the impact on standards in phonics of using a DFE validated synthetic phonics scheme in school in Wales
- to identify any factors that increase/inhibit the impact of the selected scheme on standards. (Enablers and Barriers)
Data is being used to measure the impact on standards.
The relevant baseline assessment was used for each year group i.e. reception baseline for reception, Y1 baseline for year one pupils and Y2 baseline assessment for Year 2 pupils.
This has enabled a comparison to be made between the phonic standards in each school with the expected standard in England.
Baseline data had been collected for:
- 223 Reception Pupils
- 245 Year One Pupils
- 226 Year Two Pupils
In addition, the participation of a Welsh medium school in the research project has provided baseline data for all its pupils from Y3 to Y6.
The baseline assessment with be repeated in late June/early July to demonstrate the impact on attainment in phonics in each year group in each school.
There are three aspects to exploring the enablers and barriers to the scheme having impact on phonic standards.
- Network
Network meetings are being held every six weeks. These are designed to:
- Provide information on both the research and the synthetic phonics scheme
- Build professional trust so that participants can be honest about standards in phonics at their schools
- Facilitate the sharing of what has gone well and what has not gone well
- Share resources and ideas
- Provide an insight into which areas to explore in the questionnaire and school visits
2. Questionnaire
The questionnaire was completed by each school in March. It was designed to capture:
- Extent of engagement with the scheme of staff, children and parents
- The extent of training received and impressions of the initial impact
- What has gone well
- Any barriers or difficulties
3. School Visits
Visits will be made to each school in late June/early July. These will be designed to explore specific areas in more depth. The areas will be identified through the network meetings and questionnaire.
Selection of DFE Validated Scheme
This study does not compare the different DFE validated phonics schemes. The author selected Monster Phonics for the following reasons:
- DFE validated
- Comprehensive range of resources
- Rigour
- Training provided
- Engaging/ Child centred and can fit with CfW
- Has a baseline assessment and an integrated assessment structure
- Colour coding matched to phoneme/grapheme/monster
- Addresses workload issues as its all prepared for teachers
- Company prepared to invest in understanding Welsh context and provide discount/matched funding for participating schools
Mike will write up this action research and share.