Why the Phonics Check is not just for Year 1

I recently had a Zoom meeting with a Year 6 teacher who discussed how a number of his pupils were struggling with reading and he said he was using the Year 1 phonics check to assess them. This may seem odd, but is has never occurred to me that the Year 1 Phonics Check is […]

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Should ‘alien words’ be part of the Year 1 Phonics Check?

It is that time of year again and the Year 1 Phonics Check is looming.  It will take place this year during the week commencing June 12th. There had been a lot of criticism about the check in general but specifically about the nonsense, ‘alien words’ in the check that children are asked to decode. […]

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100% success in the Y1 Phonics Check – what are the secret ingredients?

Recent results of the Year 1 Phonics Check show that schools in deprived communities can do as well as, if not better than, schools in leafy suburbs. Take St George’s, a school in Wandsworth, which reported 100% success in the Y1 Phonics Check this year. This school is situated in a challenging catchment area. What […]

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Why are children still guessing and not decoding?

Reports are coming back from schools that, despite Synthetic Phonics being taught in Reception classes, many children are failing to learn to decode. This has been reflected in the results of the Year 1 Phonics Check, with 58% of children reading 32 out of 40 words correctly. Why is this happening?

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Year 1 phonics screening check 2015 – FAQs

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 […]

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Why non-words should be included in the Year 1 Phonics Check

Non-words are nonsense words made up of the spellings (graphemes) a child has already been taught: words like ‘bip’, ‘steg’ or ‘shromp’. Read more to find out why non-words should be included in the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check.

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