An Ofsted report, The National Literacy Strategy - The first four years 1998 -2002, published last week, revealed that the overall attainment of 11-year-olds in English has not changed since 2000, with only 75 per cent reaching the level expected for their age this year, rather than the Government's 80 per cent target. Results in reading fell in 2002 for the second year running and it is now unlikely the Government will meet its targets for 2004.
Chief inspector David Bell said the Government needed to improve children's grounding in phonics, an approach that teaches them to associate letters of the alphabet with sounds. 'If you get phonics right at an early stage, you are less likely to have to deal with difficulties later,' he added.
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