“Phonics first, reading for pleasure after,” say most of the Department for Education’s “English Hubs”

Some schools participating in the former government’s flagship programme to improve the teaching of phonics expressed concerns that it did not provide enough support to encourage reading for pleasure, a new Department for Education study has stated.

The English Hubs scheme, in which 34 primary school “hubs” have been funded to provide training for others in disadvantaged areas with the aim of boosting phonics provision, generated positive responses overall from those taking part in the largely qualitative DfE study.

However, some responses from those involved indicated the specific emphasis of the programme could be contentious. The research found that most of the “hubs” stated they followed the approach of “phonics first, reading for pleasure after,” which phonics expert sources said was controversial.

The background

Education Uncovered has been reporting on the English Hubs scheme in recent months. Established in 2018 while Justine Greening was Education Secretary and with the policy detail overseen by Nick Gibb as schools minister, it will have cost £115.6 million by the end of the current academic year.

The policy was set up by the DfE to improve phonics and early reading teaching for schools which either have low pupil scores on the government’s Phonics Screening Check, or are in areas of deprivation, the newly-published report states.