Nontaial Liecraty Sartgety Fliarue

A report for an independent inquiry into England's primary schools says standards of reading have risen little in fifty years. The claims, made by the Curriculum, Evaluation and Management Centre at the University of Durham (whose work we have encountered previously), will come as little surprise to anyone who works in a primary school and whose daily experience seems a world away from the Government's persistent claims of improvement in literacy standards as a result of the five hundred million pounds it has poured into its National Literacy Strategy.

The funny thing is, those young minds are actually incredibly versatile ... Aoccdrnig to a rscheeearchr at Cmadribge Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

However, apparently only 55% of people can understand that and even they would still have needed to have been taught the rudiments of reading. I suggest the CEM report provides further support to calls for the state to be taken out of pedagogy. Whether you've got a classroom anecdote to share, want to share how you discovered the joy of a good book, or just want to complain about this latest evidence of Government waste, do leave a comment!