The Great Phonics Debate

These days, it’s a sackable offence if you tell a child the meaning of a word when they’re sounding it out.

What did you say?

These days, in phonics, if you tell a child the meaning of a word when they’re sounding it out, you get sacked.

When did this come in? Did the teaching standards change?

No, but these days if you tell a child the meaning of a word when they’re sounding it out, in phonics, it’s a sackable offence.

What? Just if you tell a child the meaning of a word when they ask, in phonics, you get sacked?

Yes, these days, in phonics, if you tell a child the meaning of a word when they’re sounding it out you get sacked so you have to just tell them to decode it.

You’d get sacked?

Yes, these days. These days if you tell a child the meaning of a word when they’re sounding it out, you get the sack, these days, in phonics, if they ask you.

You’d actually lose your job? They’d put you through competency, just for telling a child the meaning of a word when they were sounding it out?

Yes. These days if you tell a child the meaning of a word, in phonics, when they’re sounding it out, you’d be hauled into the Head Teachers office and be sacked. These days, you would.

Sacked? Just for telling a child the meaning of a word?

Yes, in phonics, you will, these days.

Are you certain? Are you sure? Is it a sackable offence to tell a child the meaning of a word they’re sounding out during a phonics lesson, if they ask?

No, but when you’re teaching them to sound out alien words, and they ask you the meaning of the word, you have to tell them to just decode it.

But you don’t have to teach alien words. It’s not  a sackable offence, is it? They are only in the phonics check to make sure children are using word attack skills.

But it is a very thin line, I grant you.

Thanks for the inspiration Stewart Lee.