How do we provide a headstart to school? It begins with the Phonics Stars ™ Cause – as follows:
To help future GCSE age Students achieve the qualifications and confidence they will need by providing an enjoyable and enriching start to their education.
Given that none of the Children we work with are likely to sit their GCSEs and equivalent exams for at least a decade, and that all that we do is so much fun, why is this our Cause? It is because we exist to give them a headstart – and there are two, interrelated, reasons.
The importance of Key Stage One for lifetime chances.
The first is the overwhelming evidence that the success, or otherwise, Children achieve during Key Stage One sets them on a trajectory for the rest of their education. If Children start well in school, they have a much better chance of finishing well and going on to higher levels of further education and rewarding professions and careers.
Under fives not ‘school ready’.
The second is the increasing realisation that as many as a third of Children entering formal education age rising five are ill-prepared, and not able to participate in the learning planned for them. Not only does this disadvantage those individuals, but is disadvantages the others too because stretched Teachers and their Assistants have little option but to focus their time and effort on those who need extra help.
The Phonics Stars™ advantage.
The work we do in our public classes, and also for Local Authorities that want to improve underperforming Schools and Communities, helps to give Children a head start in their education while having great fun at the same time. The key to this lies in our four beliefs, which can be found here. We help Children to listen. We teach them behavioural codes. We build up important little muscles needed to hold a pencil/pen correctly and become super strong writers, and important bigger muscles which help them dress themselves. We introduce numeracy. We encourage sharing and turn-taking. We help them to recognise and blend letters and sounds. We help them to enjoy learning. We help to build confidence. And to do this, we help Parents and Carers to use tools and techniques to expand upon what we do during the week, at home or anywhere.
Of course, many other factors influence educational outcomes. But for Parents who believe what we believe, our Cause helps them to prepare their Children to achieve their true potential outcomes – during Nursery and Reception, throughout KS1 and KS2, and beyond to their GCSEs and other exams taken at the end of Secondary School.