I like your sermons!
I thought the same as you, half can't speak properly and hardly any have social skills any more (thanks Covid!), getting them to sit for a story is hard enough. We have some who think everything is theirs any scream if another child comes anywhere near!
As for phonics schemes, it seems that the gov have now got a list of ones they approve of but have removed their own from that list. Basically saying, choose one from the list, pay for it yourself, but we expect everyone to do it with no guidance from us!
Think I will stick to simple listening skills with the toddlers and basic phonics for pre-school. Think they need to learn social skills first to enable them to move on to more formal group work!