Dr Nicholas Tate: Is the Death of Reading Inevitable?

In France, the September return to school – la rentrée – is always accompanied by la rentrée littéraire – the publication of large numbers of new books – as people look ahead not just to all the literary awards later in the autumn but to their own winter of evenings and weekends sitting curled up reading a new book. Or do they? This year, the rentrée edition of France’s conservative monthly magazine L’incorrect led with an article, ‘Is the death of the book inevitable?’, suggesting that reading may be the very last thing that many French people are likely to be doing.

Christine Braid: National wants to change how NZ schools teach reading......

.......but ‘structured literacy’ must be more than just a classroom checklist

If it wins the election, the National Party has vowed to shake up how children are taught to read and write. Part of this education overhaul includes a pledge to require the teaching of “structured literacy” in all year 0-6 classrooms.

For many in education, the announcement is welcome. It signals a move to an explicit and systematic form of teaching reading that educators, researchers and parents have long been calling for.

HDPA: National's education policy could potentially be a game changer

If you are a parent or a grandparent worried about whether our schooling will teach your child to read properly – you need to listen to this.

Good education announcement from National today. I have been waiting for anyone to announce this for a couple of years now. So I'm pleased someone’s finally done it.

If the Nats win the election, they will require all primary schools to teach little ones to read using structured literacy – which is basically going back to phonics. 

Garrick Tremain: On school reports

 Garrick Tremain's cartoon commentary on Johnny's school report