Soon the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check will take place. Here are some answers to questions that parents, carers and teachers may have about the check:
1. When will the screening check take place?
The screening check will take place on the week commencing June 15th 2015.
2. How will the test be administered?
The test will be administered in a one-to-one setting, with every pupil having a record sheet on which the teacher records their response (a tick in the correct or incorrect column).
The tests cannot be administered by TAs.
3. Can teachers see examples of the screening check?
Yes, they can. The DfE has published sample pages, which can be found here.
Teachers can use the samples to familiarise themselves with the format of the check. This can also help them to consider whether their children are on course to learn the type of phonics knowledge included in the check this year. The sample pages are not intended to be used as practice material for children.
4. When and how should teachers report results?
Results should be reported to Local Authorities. The Authorities must submit the results to the DfE by July 31st. Schools should notify parents of the results by the end of the summer term.
5. What is the content of the screening check?
The screening check will include 40 real words and non-words (nonsense words, also called pseudo words).
6. Is the screening check pupil-friendly?
Yes, it is. Only four words appear on a page so pupils are not daunted. Next to the non-words are images of a cute alien-looking monster to make sure the child does not seek to match the word with a real word.
7. What is the Phonics Screening Check actually checking?
The screening check is checking that children at the end of Year 1 have the foundations they need to learn to read. These are the skills for blending (pushing together) sounds into words and the phonic knowledge of recognising the sounds for basic letters and letter combinations. For this reason, the check includes certain word structures (to indicate how well children blend sounds into words) and certain letters or letter combinations (to indicate their phonic knowledge).
8. What is the structure of the screening check?
The screening check has two sections:
Section 1 contains simple word structures: (C=consonant; V=Vowel)
CVC (e.g. ‘shin’ and ‘bim’)
VCC (e.g. ‘end’ and ‘ulf’)
CCVC (e.g. ‘grit’ and ‘blan’)
CVCC (e.g. ‘best’ and ‘hild’)
The phonic knowledge checked in Section 1 is the sounds of the alphabet, some consonant digraphs (‘ch’, ‘ck’, ‘ff’, ‘ll’, ‘ng’, ‘sh’, ‘ss’, ‘th’ and ‘zz’) and a few vowel digraphs that always spell the same sound (‘ar’, ‘ee’, ‘oi’, ‘oo’ and ‘or’). There are some real words like ‘week’, ‘start’ and ‘hooks’ that contain these vowel digraphs.
Section 2 includes more-complex word structures:
CCVCC (e.g. ‘blank’ and ‘snemp’)
CCCVC (e.g. ‘strap’ and ‘spron’)
CCCVCC (e.g. ‘sprint’ and ‘stroft’)
It also includes some two-syllable words, such as ‘rusty’, ‘dentist’ and ‘starling’.
The phonic knowledge includes additional consonant digraphs (e.g. ‘ph’ and ‘wh’) and more vowel digraphs that include split digraphs (‘a-e’, ‘e-e’, ‘i-e’, ‘o-e’ and ‘u-e’) and some alternative spellings (e.g. ‘ai’, ‘ay’, ‘a-e’ and ‘ea’). Other additional graphemes listed are ‘au’/‘aw’, ‘er’/‘ir’/‘ur’, ‘ew’/‘ue’/‘ue’, ‘ie’/‘igh’, ‘oa’, ‘ou’/‘ow’, ‘oy’ and ‘air’).
9. What is the pass mark for the phonics screening check?
In 2013 and 2014, the pass mark was 32 words read correctly out of the 40 words. This year, the pass mark will be announced after the phonics check takes place.
Tami Reis-Frankfort
P.S. More information on the Phonics Screening Check can be found here.