This paper evaluates three word-level teaching programmes delivered by trained Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) for Year 1 children 'at risk' of reading difficulties. Rime-based, phoneme-based, and 'mixed' (rime and phoneme-based) interventions were contrasted with controls receiving only the National Literacy Strategy. Phonological onset-rime and phoneme manipulation, spelling, and word and non-word reading were measured before and after the nine-week intervention. High rime neighbourhood (HRn) non-words (e.g. 'dat' -with many real word rime neighbours) and low rime neighbourhood (LRn) non-words (e.g. 'tav' with few real word neighbours) were used to evaluate onset-rime-or grapheme-phoneme-based decoding strategies. Results showed greater phonological onset-rime skills, lettersound knowledge and non-word reading skills in all LSA-taught intervention groups. There was no difference between the HRn and LRn non-words. The only reliable difference between the intervention groups was an advantage in phoneme blending for the rime-taught group. It was concluded that LSAs can enhance literacy development for 6-year-old poor readers. There appears to be no simple association between rime-or phoneme-based teaching intervention and changes in the size of unit used by children following interventions.Considerable evidence suggests that explicit training of sub-syllabic phonological skills plays an important part in facilitating children's early reading development. One foundation for this view is the large and convergent body of evidence from controlled intervention studies (e.g. Ball & Blachman, 1991;Lundberg, 1994;Lundberg, Frost & Peterson, 1988;Stuart, 1999). These studies show that training children to reflect upon, and manipulate, the phonological units within a syllable, measurably facilitates word

Results support the existence of a route from phoneme manipulation, but not an additional direct route from explicit onset-rime manipulation at 5, to reading at 7. Practically, findings show that professionals can augment baseline and pupil background data with phoneme manipulation screening in the early identification of learning needs.

Phonological awareness is a unique predictor of general curricular attainment independent of pupil background, early reading ability and letter-knowledge. Practically, screening of phonological awareness and basic reading skills by school staff in year 1 significantly enhances the capacity of schools to predict curricular outcomes in year 6.

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School LSAs can be readily trained to administer phonological awareness measures to cohorts of 5-year-old children. Such measures used in conjunction with baseline measures significantly enhance prediction of Key Stage 1 performance. Deploying LSAs in this fashion significantly enhances a school's capacity to identify young children for whom additional support may be necessary.