A scheme that simplifies literacy teaching

26 May 2011

I don't usually write about specific education resources but I'm going to break this unwritten rule because I recently came across a father and son team who provide a literacy scheme that seemed to me both unusual and worthy of wider mention.

Norman Hore, and his son David, run something called 'Rapid English'. As its name suggests, its a method of teaching that focuses on teaching the most useful 20% of the English language. This 20% - which is identified by software programmes - makes up 80% of normal communication.

So the idea is that by focusing on the bits of grammar and spelling that really count, you can achieve rapid results. They have had particular success working with young offenders but have also worked with primary and secondary schools. They are already working with around 20 Youth Offending Teams and some 15 or more schools.

Norman Hore's background is in teaching English as a foreign language, where he found that he could achieve much better results by ignoring the conventional curriculum and 'focusing - not on teaching to the exam - but on teaching to communicate'.

When he came back to the UK he worked on literacy with the lower set at Bodmin Community College none of whom had achieved Level 3. He says they decided 'not to focus on the exam but on our system and the result was that not one of them got less than a Level 4'.

The Rapid English approach is to identify the frequency of the use of key bits of grammar, vocabulary and spelling and then to focus on the most common usage. So, for example, Norman tells me that 98% of words ending with an 's' do not have an apostrophe. Yet teachers usually spend time teaching about the use of the apostrophe. Instead, he says, 'it's better to never put in the apostrophe but kids put them in everywhere because they have been told they're important'.

Rapid English also has a handwriting programme which they say has worked particularly well with young offenders who faced severe literacy barriers.

As I am not a teacher, I do not feel qualified to endorse the effectiveness of the system, and I have not seen it in action, but I was certainly impressed with the testimonials that Rapid English showed me.

I invited David Hore to write a short article about his work, which you can read in the 'articles' section of this website: www.mikebakereducation.co.uk/articles/85/rapid-english

You can find out more about Rapid English at their website: www.rapidenglish.com/