Year 1 Phonics Check A Guide for Parents May 2016

What is meant by ‘Phonics’? Method of teaching children to read. Starts in Reception and continues in Year 1. Taught in daily Letters and Sounds Lessons. Supported by reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction books at home and at school.

Reception Children are taught how to recognise letters (graphemes) and the sounds they make (phonemes). They begin by learning how to blend simple words: c-a-t; p-i-n. Then they learn how two letters (digraph) or three letters (trigraph) can make one sound: sh; ch; th; ee; air; igh. They blend more difficult words such as ch-air; s-igh-t; s-t-ar-l-i-ng.

Year 1 Children are taught alternative spellings of the same phoneme: or; aw; au / ee; ea; ey / etc …and split vowel digraphs (aka ‘Magic e’): like; cave; rose.

What is the phonics screening check? The National phonics screening check is a statutory assessment that was introduced in 2012 for all Year 1 pupils in order to check their knowledge of phonics. All year 1 pupils will take the phonics screening check in 2016 during the week beginning 13th June.

The test contains 40 words. Each child will sit one-to-one and read each word aloud to their class teacher. The test will take approximately 10 minutes per child, although all children are different and will complete the check at their own pace. The list of words the children read is a combination of 20 real words and 20 pseudo words (nonsense/alien words).

trains grit finger slide Real words:

Alien Words: Pseudo or ‘alien’ words are used to check that children are using their knowledge of phonics to decode a word, rather than their memory. They are linked to a picture of an alien to provide a context, and children usually find them good fun.

How will the results from the screening be used? School will use the information to assess which children may need additional help to support their reading. You will be informed of your child’s progress in phonics and how he or she has done in the screening check, in the end of year report. The Department for Education will collate the results from every primary school and use them to monitor how schools compare with the national data. Last year, 84% of children from Cononley Primary School achieved the required standard in the Phonics Check compared with the national average of 77%.

What happens if a child struggles with the screening check? All children are individuals and develop at different stages. The screening check ensures that teachers understand which children need support with decoding. If children do not achieve the standard required by the Phonics Check, they will be given additional support and retake the check at the end of Year 2.

How can I help my child? Enjoy reading stories with your child. Encourage your child to read to you every day – it is better to read one or two pages every day rather than a whole book once a week. Encourage them to ‘sound out’ unfamiliar words, not guess.

Cbeebies Alphablocks Oxford Owls E Books Phonics Play