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Talk; Good Practice - Inf/Junior

Wednesday stream 4 Session 14.00 - 15.40 Length 25 minutes

The Literacy Hour: accommodating children with literacy difficulties

Chris Smith, Helen Whiteley and Suzanne Windle

University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK c.d.smith@uclan.ac.uk

Abstract

The daily Literacy Hour was introduced into primary schools in England and Wales in 1998 and is to be extended into secondary schools. A survey in 1999 of teachers' experiences of the Literacy Hour found that it benefits the majority of children, but that for the minority of children with literacy difficulties the structure and learning objectives of the Literacy hour are not necessarily appropriate (Smith and Whiteley, 2000). The DfEE has introduced additional materials for teachers to use with children with literacy difficulties. In this paper we report the results of a survey in 2000 of teachers on the problems they face in accommodating children with literacy difficulties into the Literacy Hour and on their solutions to these problems. Following this survey we conducted a further survey on these issues in 2001 of literacy co-ordinators in Lancashire primary schools and these results are also reported here. The results of both surveys are discussed in terms of the interplay between teachers' knowledge of the theory and research on the development of literacy, their knowledge of and access to screening and intervention packages (e.g. for using ICT with dyslexic children), curriculum requirements, and practical and funding considerations. The results suggest that teachers often lack relevant knowledge, that the formal structure of the Literacy Hour is inappropriate for children with literacy difficulties and that teachers often depart from the structure for the benefit of individual children.