2. Phonics is a way of teaching children to read and write Children are taught to: Recognise sounds of individual letters Identify the sounds of combinations of letters Blend these sounds together to make a word

3. It is a quick and easy check to see where your child is with their phonological knowledge It is statutory – All children in Year 1 must take part Your child’s class teacher will be the adult leading the check.

5. Every Year 1 child in the country will be taking the phonics screening check in the same week in June. The aim of the check is to ensure that all children are able to read by the end of year two. This ‘midpoint check’ will ensure that we have a clear understanding of what the children need to learn in year 2.

6. Your child’s class teacher will work 1:1 with your child to complete the check. There is not time limit. Children will be asked to read 40 words both real and nonsense words, through sounding and blending or by sight The results will be used to inform the teachers future planning THIS IS NOT A READING TEST

7. The check is very similar to tasks the children already complete during phonics lessons. Children will be asked to ‘sound out’ a word and blend the sounds together.eg d-o-g - dog The focus of the check is to see which sounds the children know and therefore the children will be asked to read made up ‘nonsense’ words. The test becomes progressfully harder as they work through the 40 words.

10. The screening will take place throughout the a given week in June. The children cannot retake the test at any other time so it is very important your child is in school during this week. You will receive a Phonics Screening Check Pupils report with your child’s end of year report. The check has been designed so that children of all abilities will be able to take part.

11. If your child has not reached the expected level they will re-take the check in year 2 They will receive support in Phonics thought year 2

12. Encourage your child to ‘sound out’ when reading or writing. Focusing particularly on spotting more unusual sound patterns. Eg Digraph- 2 letters making one sound cow Trigraphs- 3 letters making one sound night Split digraphs- 2 vowels with a consonant inbetween. Use to be known as the magic e! spine - i_e

13. Phonics Play – www.phonicsplay.co.uk www.mrthorne.com Letters and Sounds – www.letters –and-sounds.com BBC Bitesize – www.bbc.co.uk www. Ictgames.com/literacy.html ictgames.com/forestPhonics/forestPhonicsOnline/index.html