As you may be aware children at the end of Year 1 are assessed against their phonic reading knowledge by their teacher. The Phonics Screening Check is a quick and easy check of your child’s phonics knowledge. It helps the teachers, and the school, to identify what level the child has reached with their phonic knowledge and what support will be needed for them to reach their full reading potential.
You can find out more about how we teach Phonics at Lent Rise and ways that you can support your child here.
The children are not made aware that they are completing a test; in our experience the children tend to perform better (at this age) in a class setting where they are unaware that they are completing a ‘test’. We ensure that these tests are 'stress-free' - we never refer to them as ‘tests’ and usually the children are completely unaware that they are doing them!
You will be able to discuss your child's results, their report and their teacher assessment levels with their class teacher.
What is the Phonics Screening check?
The Phonics Screening Check is a quick and easy check of your child’s phonics knowledge. It helps the school to confirm whether your child has made the expected progress.
The check consists of a total of 40 words and non-words that your child will be asked to read one-on-one with a teacher. Non-words are a collection of letters that will follow phonics rules your child has been taught, but they do not actually mean anything – your child will need to read these with the correct sounds to show that they understand the phonics rules behind them.
The teacher administering the check with your child will give them a few practice words to read first – including some non-words – so they understand more about what they have to do.
The Phonics Screening Check is meant to show how well your child can use the phonics skills they’ve learned up to the end of Year 1, and to identify pupils who need extra phonics help. If they do not reach the expected level, your child’s teacher will support your child by using a range of strategies to ensure they are successful readers.
