What is the Phonics Screening Check?

Children in Year 1 throughout the country will all be taking part in a phonics screening check during the same week in June. Chil- dren in year 2 will also take the check if they did not achieve the required result when in Year 1 or if they have not taken the test before.

The Head teacher should decide whether it is appropriate for each of their pupils to take the phonics screening check. The phonics screening check is designed to confirm whether individu- al children have learnt sufficient phonic decoding and blending skills.

What happens during the test?

The test contain 40 words. Each child sits one to one and reads each word aloud to their teacher. The test will take approximately 10 minutes per child, although all children are different and will complete the check at their own pace. The list of words the children read is a combination of 20 real words and 20 nonsense words.

Nonsense words

The nonsense words will be shown to your child with a picture of an alien. This provides the children with a context for the nonsesne word which is independent from any existing vocabulary they may have. nonsense words are included because they will be new to all pupils; they do not favour children with a good vocabulary knowledge or visual memory of words.

Reporting to Parents

By the end of the summer term schools must report results of the check to parents. They will also confirm if the child has met the standard threshold. Children who do not achieve the expected level will retake the test when they are in Year 2.

 

 

 

How are the results used?

Results from the check will be used by schools to analyse their own performance.

 

How can I help my child at home?

• Play lots of sound and listening games with your child.
• Read as much as possible to and with your child.
• Encourage and praise - get them to have a ‘good guess’.
• If your child is struggling to decode a word, help them by encouraging them to say each sound in the word from left to right.
• Blend the sounds by pointing to each letter, e.g. /c/ in cat, or the letter group, e.g. /ng/ in sing. Next move your finger un- der the whole word as you say it.
• Discuss the meaning of words if your child does not know what they have read.

Phonics screening check information for parents

[pdf 455KB]