with my Phonics, “meetings manager”, “a teacher monthly visit”, “peer support”. again, emanated into many of these statements for under threes; have “we regular inset phonics phonics training days”, “attended courses”, “L&S training” and Lead Teacher from the TA supports us with phonics, tracking and “the It is evident from these statements that practitioners are receiving assessment”. training in phonics. The findings also indicate that this focus on phonics training, together with earlier findings of a lack of understanding of what early reading is in practice for under-threes, is influencing practice and having a potentially negative impact on provision for under-threes. Equally, the survey data question support or training do you think would ‘what help you in your work with under-threes?’ very similar themed yielded responses of further training for early reading, more specific training on early reading and in particular how best to support under-threes. Crucially, 78% (28/36) suggested more support for early reading is required for their work under-threes. Notably, 28% (14/50) did not respond to this question, which may suggest that they do not feel they need any support or further training. Principally, there were some really interesting suggestions from survey participants of practice with under-threes on “good guidelines”, “guidance supporting to see good babies”, “visits outstanding practitioners”, “share practice experiences for the setting and a clear together”, “support strategy”, with developing an setting early reading and specific training “support policy” “a programme for early reading would be good - lots of phonics training is already to put into practice to support the practitioners. These are all very available” valuable suggestions that are not currently available or easily accessible for professionals working with under-threes. It could be argued that there is a plethora of research and publications to support early years practitioners, but I would propose that much of the research, literature and the textbooks are not focused upon supporting early reading and certainly not focused on work with under-threes. The findings imply that, because there is very little research and specific training on supporting under-threes, the focus on phonics with older children is radiated and often diffused to under-threes, thus influencing and
“meetings with my manager”, “a teacher monthly visit”, “peer support”. Phonics, again, emanated into many of these statements for under threes; “we have regular inset phonics days”, “attended phonics training courses”, “L&S training” and “the Lead Teacher from the TA supports us with phonics, tracking and assessment”. It is evident from these statements that practitioners are receiving training in phonics. The findings also indicate that this focus on phonics training, together with earlier findings of a lack of understanding of what early reading is in practice for under-threes, is influencing practice and having a potentially negative impact on provision for under-threes. Equally, the survey data question ‘what support or training do you think would help you in your work with under-threes?’ yielded very similar themed responses of further training for early reading, more specific training on early reading and in particular how best to support under-threes. Crucially, 78% (28/36) suggested more support for early reading is required for their work under-threes. Notably, 28% (14/50) did not respond to this question, which may suggest that they do not feel they need any support or further training. Principally, there were some really interesting suggestions from survey participants of “good practice with under-threes guidelines”, “guidance on supporting babies”, “visits to see outstanding practitioners”, “share good practice experiences together”, “support for the setting and a clear strategy”, “support with developing an setting early reading policy” and “a specific training programme for early reading would be good - lots of phonics training is already available” to put into practice to support the practitioners. These are all very valuable suggestions that are not currently available or easily accessible for professionals working with under-threes. It could be argued that there is a plethora of research and publications to support early years practitioners, but I would propose that much of the research, literature and the textbooks are not focused upon supporting early reading and certainly not focused on work with under-threes. The findings imply that, because there is very little research and specific training on supporting under-threes, the focus on phonics with older children is radiated and often diffused to under-threes, thus influencing and
120200555%20Thesis%20Final%20Karen%20Boardman%20April%202017.docx