IN BRIEF: Teachers Hit Out at Plans for Phonics

TEACHERS’ leaders yesterday criticised plans to require every primary school in England to teach children to read using a highly traditional method known as “synthetic phonics”.

Education Secretary Ruth Kelly said the statutory National Curriculum would be revised to make sure phonics was the “prime” teaching system used in reading lessons.

But the Association of Teachers and Lecturers warned against adopting such a “centrally imposed” strategy.