§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what pilot studies were carried out in assessing the effectiveness of the Early Literacy Support approach to the teaching of reading; and if he will make a statement on the study and the results. [128687]
§ Mr. Stephen TwiggA systematic study covering the one-year pilot of the Early Literacy Support (ELS) programme was taken forward during 2000–01 by a team of primary HMI, who have evaluated the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies since 1998. Their detailed findings informed the development of the programme and were summarised in Ofsted's third Annual Report on the Literacy Strategy. Participating teachers, teaching assistants and literacy consultants also provided systematic feedback on the pilot which resulted in the materials and the programme being appropriately modified and refined before publication.