Welcome! Overview of the session 1. To find out about the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check. 2. To find out ways in which you can help at home.

The Year One Phonics Screening Check: Information for Parents April 2017

Phonics – A reminder Children are taught phonics in groups every day for 15-20 minutes. The sessions are fast paced and ensure children have opportunities to hear the sounds, say the sounds, read the sounds and write them. There are 44 phonemes (sounds) How many can you think of?

How many did you get?

Remember …. ….. Some of the phonemes (sounds) can be made by different graphemes (letters), eg: the ‘oa’ sound as in ‘goat’ can also be made by ‘ow’ as in ‘snow’. AND ….. …….. some combinations of graphemes can make different phonemes, eg: ‘ow’ can make to ‘oa’ sound as in ‘snow’ or the ‘ow’ sound as in ‘cow’.

The Phonics Screening Check The check consists of 40 ‘words’, starting simply and getting increasingly challenging. 20 words are real words, eg: bat, train, thundering. 20 are ‘pseudo-words’ or ‘alien words’ such as vig, brump, thrungly. The idea for each word is that the child uses their phonic knowledge to segment the word into phonemes and blend together to read.

The Phonics Screening Check – cont. The children receive a score and several weeks later, we are told the threshold or ‘pass mark’ and children at or above this mark are said to be ‘achieving the expected standard’. (It’s usually around 32/40) Anyone not achieving the standard has a plan put in place during Year 2 and they re-take a year later.

The Phonics Screening Check – cont. Most children at Launcelot achieve the standard – 77% last year. Almost all children who re-take the test in Year 2 are successful. At the end of the year, along with your child’s report, you will get a report about their phonics screening check where you will be told their score and whether they met the standard.

Supporting at Home Carry on reading to and with your child every day. This MUST take priority over screens. Play games with flashcards. Use letter cards – put random letters together for children to blend and read. You say a word and ask your child to make the word / write the word. When reading at home ask questions such as, which letters are making the ‘oo’ sound? Use of IT resources / games.