There has long been an uneasy relationship between two intimately tied areas of the EYFS – Communication and Language, and Literacy. Communication and Language (C&L) is not only an area of learning in its own right, separate from Literacy, but it is a Prime area. Yet, Literacy is sometimes put in prime position instead, with Ofsted’s Bold Beginningsgoing so far as to say that learning to read should be the core purpose of the Reception year.
So, perhaps it should come as no surprise that the Department for Education (DfE) has muddled the two areas together, and has given extra weight to Literacy at the expense of Communication and Language. While keeping 17 Early Learning Goals (ELGs) overall, the proposals rob Understanding from C&L, and place it as a third Literacy ELG called ‘Comprehension’, alongside Reading and Writing. Confusion reigns, which will do nothing toward what the DfE says is a central objective of the EYFS rewrite: to improve outcomes in language and literacy, particularly among disadvantaged children.
PUT SIMPLY
Writing is nothing more than using symbols to record what you want to say, while reading is interpreting the symbols someone else has recorded so you can get their message. You have to be able to put a sentence or a paragraph together in speech before you can do it in writing. And you must understand complex sentences when someone speaks to you before you are able to understand them when you read. It is obvious that the Prime area of spoken language comes first, and literacy just rests on top of that.
Since C&L comes first, it makes no sense at all to remove Understanding from the Prime area. Understanding develops first in reading facial expressions and understanding gestures, then linking meanings to words and learning to follow sentences. From babies on up, understanding of language comes before beginning to use it, then reading can build on that foundation. It misrepresents language development – and doesn’t help practitioners or parents know how to support children – if understanding is left out of C&L.
Presumably the proposed ‘Comprehension’ ELG as part of Literacy is meant as an acknowledgement that reading is more than just phonics, or ‘barking at print’, and that understanding what you read also needs attention. It is arguable that understanding is even more important than totally accurate word reading, since the whole point of reading is to gain meaning – strong adult readers often skim and get the meaning, without reading every single word.
So, I welcome highlighting understanding within Literacy. But there is no need to make it a separate ELG. The Reading ELG should contain reference to both reading the words and understanding the meaning, and the Writing ELG should include both recording words and communicating meaningful messages.
MEANINGFUL READING
Sadly, meaningful reading and writing is totally missing from the ELGs. The ‘Comprehension’ ELG actually describes totally oral behaviours, so it should clearly be moved back to C&L. We are left with ‘Word Reading’, which covers phonics and reading words aloud, but has no mention of making any sense of what is read.
‘Writing’ includes handwriting, phonics, and writing that can be read, but makes no mention of using writing to communicate something that is meaningful for the child. The omission of any sense of meaning in Literacy reflects the DfE’s rigid insistence on synthetic phonics, ‘first, fast and only’.
This makes reading and writing abstract chores that will discourage and turn off many children before they reach the skill level where they are expected to actually understand and enjoy what they read or be excited about what they can write.
The proposed educational programme also has significant room for improvement. The DfE says it describes activities adults can undertake with children from birth onwards to support learning in Literacy. In fact, it has nothing to do with pre-reading children – in other words, most of the EYFS age range. Where is the mention of mark-making, environmental print, familiar symbols, and so on?
It talks about skilled recognition of printed words and decoding, and writing as a combination of spelling and handwriting, and composition. There is a good argument that handwriting doesn’t belong in writing, since it is a fine motor skill and so sits in Physical Development in the current EYFS. Writing – actually communicating meaning – might be on paper, but it could also be through typing on a screen, or with magnetic letters on a fridge. Stephen Hawking wrote some hugely influential books, but handwriting was not part of it.
And the most important part of supporting Literacy is left to the very last line, ‘It is also crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading.’ I suggest the DfE start over, putting love of reading and motivation to write at the top of Literacy, making it a meaningful and fascinating area for children of all ages.
Proposed ELG: comprehension
- Children at the expected level of development will:
- demonstrate understanding of what has been read to them by retelling stories and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary
- anticipate – where appropriate – key events in stories
- use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems and during role-play.
