Phonics Information afternoon Welcome to the Year One Phonics Information afternoon

What is Phonics? Children have 25mins daily discrete phonics lessons; Children are taught to read by breaking down words into separate sounds or ‘phonemes’. They are then taught how to blend these sounds together to read the whole word; There are around 44 different sounds.

Split digraphs We explain to children that these are one sound that is split up- a bit like friends not sitting next to each other! n a m e t h e m e s l i d e b o n e c u b e

What is the screening check? Every Year 1 child in the country will be taking a statutory phonics screening check in the same week. The check is very similar to tasks the children already complete during phonics lessons. The focus of the check is to provide evidence of children’s decoding and blending skills, not to test their vocabulary.

We are teaching children to draw on the sound buttons- underlining the sounds they recognise before reading the word. All words in the test are decodable, children can sound them out. There are no tricky words to read (words that can’t be sounded out).

What will the children do? It should take 5- 10 minutes to complete; They will be asked to ‘sound out’ a word and blend the sounds together. e.g. d-o-g – dog The check will consist of 40 words and non-words; Children will be told if the word is a real or ‘alien’ word, with a corresponding alien image. We will give all children a break after they have read 20 words.

How will it be administered? The children will complete the check one to one with their teacher in a quiet area of the school; We are not permitted to indicate to the children at the time whether they have correctly sounded out and / or blended the word.

And the results...? Children will be scored against a national standard. They will need to get 32/ 40 correct to pass the test. We will inform you of whether they fall below or within this standard with their end of year report. If your child’s score falls below the national standard they will re-take the Phonics Screening Check in year 2.

When will it happen? The screening will take place throughout the week beginning Monday 11th June 2018 It has been designed so that children of all abilities will be able to take part.

How can you help? Encourage your child to sound out words they don’t know whilst reading e.g. by blending the sounds together Children can practise their phonics by playing games online. Phonics play has lots of games (most of the test is at phase 5 level). There are also some mock tests on the reading robot game. Phonicsplay.co.uk U = baileyscourt2013 P= bailey2013

How can you help? REMEMBER: Phonics is not the only way you become a good reader. Continue to read with your child each night and encourage them to: Sound out, re-read to check it makes sense, and use pictures for clues. Ask questions about the book; And most importantly ENJOY READING!

Questions?

We have set up the Year 1 classrooms and outside area with lots of phonics activities that you can do with your child. If you have any questions about how to pronounce the sounds or anything similar please ask any of us!