1. to the
Workshop

2. What Is Phonics? Phonics is the sounds that the letters make in words.
Some sounds are single letters e.g. s (phase 2)
Some sounds are digraphs ( 2 letters making 1 sound) e.g. ch (phase 3)
Some sounds are trigraphs (3 letters making 1 sound) e.g. igh (phase 3)
Children learn to say each sound with an action and then blend sounds together to make a word. e.g. f i sh fish.
Long vowel sounds (phase 3/4) and Split digraphs (phase 5)

3. What Is The Phonics Screening Check?
All Year 1 children in the country will taking part in a phonics screening check in June.
The check is nothing to worry about and the children see it as a reading activity.
This is to check that your child is able to use phonics to the expected standard and that they are on track with their phonic decoding.

4. What Happens During The Check?
The check contains 40 words – mixture of real and “alien”.
Each child will sit one to one with their class teacher and read each word out loud
The check will take about 10 minutes per child.
Here is a sample of the words

5. Why Nonsense Words?
The nonsense words will be shown to your child with a picture of an alien. This is to show the children that the word is not a real one.
Nonsense words are included so that children have to use their phonic knowledge rather than remembering the word.
e.g. vap, osk, ot, ect…
These are words that are phonetically decodable but not
actually words with an associated meaning, e.g. brip, snorp.
These words are included in the check specifically to assess
whether your child can decode a word using phonic skills
and not their memory. The nonsense words will be shown to
your child with a picture prompt of an imaginary creature.

6. Example Of The Check

7. Phonics homework will be sent home. Activities Board game
There are lots of things you can do with your child at home to help them get better at phonics.
Phonics homework will be sent home.
Activities Board game
Sound buttons and snowballing
Reading every day
content/uploads/2016/05/phonics-screening-check-word- cards.pdf