The government will spend £2 million on a “writing framework” to “articulate a common approach to teaching”, as well as reading and writing professional development and a fund for secondary resources.
The Department for Education said its investment would benefit “thousands of pupils”. However, it works out as the equivalent of around 22p for each pupil in the country.
Of the £2 million, some will be spent on a “writing framework”, which the DfE said would be a “first step to support schools in delivering high quality writing provision across England ensuring all pupils have a strong foundation in writing”.
The new writing guidance “will articulate a common approach to teaching writing rooted in evidence and good practice”.
The plans for a writing framework when a full review of the curriculum is ongoing have raised eyebrows. Headteacher Michael Tidd posted on Bluesky: “Oh for goodness sake… We’re in the midst of a curriculum review; why are they adding new deckchairs?”
Some of the cash will be spent on providing primary teachers with additional training to “help children progress from the early stages of phonics in reception and year 1 through to reading fluently by the time they leave primary school”.
This will be delivered through the English hubs programme.
Resources for secondary schools
At secondary level, teachers will be “offered new training and resources this year to help them support readers at all levels”.
There will be a “set of videos and guidance for leaders, and another one for teachers”.
“It is designed to be quick and accessible to all staff”, the government said. The package has been developed by Dr Jessie Ricketts, an academic at Royal Holloway university.
Next year, the DfE will also commission “further training that will be focused specifically on struggling readers in secondary school who are at risk of falling behind”. All training will be available for free to all schools.
The remaining £1 million will be “available for secondary schools with the greatest need to apply for, to support them to purchase reading programmes and other resources to support struggling readers”.
The DfE has not yet set the eligibility criteria for the fund.
Other subject support stripped back
It comes after the Labour government scrapped a number of other schemes aimed at supporting teaching of other subjects.
Ministers will cease funding the Stimulating Physics Network (SPN) when its contract ends in March. Funding for computing hubs has been scrapped, with languages support also scaled back. The Latin Excellence Programme’s funding is due to cease this month.
The DfE said its plans would “tackle persistent gap in literacy skills, with a third of children leaving primary school without fundamental reading, writing and maths skills”. It also “builds on success of phonics”, the department said.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Reading and writing are the cornerstones of learning. They hold the keys to the rest of the curriculum, with pupils who struggle to read so often struggling across the board.
“So while progress has been made – in particular when it comes to phonics – now is the time to take that work to another level.”
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