Year 1 Phonics Check

Why Phonics? What is phonics? A way to help your child read and then write.

Jargon buster Blending To say the individual sounds that make up a word and blend them together to hear the whole word for reading e.g. s-a-t becomes sat. We say you blend to read and segment (see below) to spell. Consonant Every letter in the English alphabet that is not a vowel. Decoding To read a word by saying the sounds then joining, or blending, those sounds together to form the word.

Jargon buster Graphemes A written letter or group of letters that represent a sound e.g. the sound s can be represented by the graphemes s in sun, ce in dance, ss in dress, st in whistle,cy in cycle and so on. Phonemes The smallest unit of sounds in a word represented by letters or groups of letters Segmenting To write or spell a word by listening for the sounds in the word and deciding which letters represent those sounds. We say you blend to read and segment to spell.

The letters a, e, i, o, u in the English alphabet. Jargon buster Sounding out To say the individual sounds that make up a word (sometimes also called Fred Talk or Robot Talk). Synthetic phonics Synthetic Phonics is a way of teaching reading. Children are taught to read letters or groups of letters by saying the sound(s) they represent – so, they are taught that the letter m sounds like mmmm … when we say it. Children can then start to read words by blending (synthesising) the sounds together to make a word. Tricky words Common words that are difficult to decode because some of the letters don't make the sounds you would expect, like the or said. Vowels The letters a, e, i, o, u in the English alphabet.  

Background and overview of the check What is the Year 1 phonics screening check? A screening check, introduced by the Department for Education in 2012, to assess pupils' phonic decoding skills at the end of Year 1. The phonics screening check has been taken individually by all children in Year 1, in England, from June 2012. It is designed to give teachers and parents information on how the children are progressing in phonics. It will help to identify children who need additional support at this stage so that they do not fall behind in this vital early reading skill.

What is in the Year 1 phonics screening check? Structure and content What is in the Year 1 phonics screening check? There will be two sections in this 40-word check and it will assess phonics skills and knowledge learned through Reception and Year 1. It will check your child can: Sound out and blend graphemes in order to read simple words. Read phonically decodable one-syllable and two-syllable words, e.g. cat, sand, windmill. Read a selection of nonsense words which are referred to as pseudo words.

What are nonsense words/pseudo and why are they included? These are words that are phonically decodable but are not actual words e.g. brip, snorb. Pseudo words are included in the check specifically to assess whether your child can decode a word using phonics skills and not their memory. The pseudo words will be shown to your child with a picture of a monster. This not only makes the check a bit more fun, but provides the children with a context for the nonsense word which is independent from any existing vocabulary they may have. Crucially, it does not provide any clues, so your child just has to be able to decode it. Children generally find nonsense amusing so they will probably enjoy reading these words.

How the check is administered The check will be administered by Miss Mason. We choose to administrate the check over 2/3 days. Your child will read up to four words per page for their teacher it will take about 5-10 minutes, however there is no time limit. Most pupils will be able to complete the check in one sitting; however it can be broken into more than one sitting if appropriate. Pupils are encouraged to attempt to read as many words as they can, using their phonics knowledge and skills. Self-correction by the pupil is allowed but prompting by the administrator to correct is not.  

What happens to the results? The school will report your child’s results to you by the end of the summer term as well as to the local authority, but the results won’t be published in a league table as with SATs. If you have any concerns, do arrange to talk to your child’s teacher.

Is there a pass mark? The check is not about passing or failing but checking appropriate progress is being made. If children do not reach the required standard, then the teacher will be in touch to discuss plans and offer additional, tailored support to ensure that your child can catch up. Last year it was 32 out of 40. Children progress at different speeds so not reaching the threshold score does not necessarily mean there is a serious problem. Your child will re-sit the check the following summer term having completed Phonics intervention in Year Two.

How you can support your child’s learning at home Say sounds correctly e.g. lllll not luh- don’t add the ‘uh’ sound to each phoneme. Practise the segmenting and blending lists- we will send them home weekly with the homework. Regularly practise reading the digraphs with your child. Know the digraphs – hearing the sounds Two letters one sound -Spotting digraphs in words Different spelling patterns, such as long vowel sounds, e.g. ai, ay, a-e. It’s valuable to help your child with these sounds at home when you are reading together so that children start to automatically apply their phonic skills when reading unfamiliar words. Practise, practise, practise Read to your child Come in and help during focus time - 9.00-9.30 Speak to your child’s teacher

Websites Oxford Owl Reading http://oxfordowl.co.uk/Reading Government advice

Lots and lots of books! Carry on sharing and reading lots and lots of stories and information books to and with your child.

Praise and hugs! Most importantly, remember that your child will learn much faster with encouragement, praise and hugs