ABSTRACT
Early Literacy Support (ELS) is a twelve-week daily INTERVENTION PROGRAMME for year 1 students who are behind in their literacy skills. It is designed to prevent them being left behind at this critical early stage. They are selected for this programme by testing their ability to listen and understand, how they contribute to literacy lessons, and their apparent knowledge and confidence with words. (It is not designed for students with special needs.) There are normally only six students in the group, and each lesson lasts half an hour. If a student makes sufficient progress there are opt-out points after four and eight weeks and, if needed, there is an additional eight-week programme. It enables students to build words with PHONICS (sounds), to break down the construction of simple words, to practise spelling and reading, and to gain confidence with words. A puppet is sometimes used to allow the students to notice the mistakes the puppet is making and thereby give permission for them to make their own mistakes, and learn from them. The emphasis is on interactive fun so that literacy is perceived as enjoyable and rewarding.
