Year 1 Phonics Screening Check 2020 What is

Year 1 Phonics Screening Check 2020

What is phonics? Words are made up from small units of sound called phonemes. Phonics teaches children to be able to listen carefully and identify the phonemes that make up each word. Children learn to; identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make - such as ‘sh’ or ‘oo’ blend these sounds together from left to right to make a word. use this knowledge to ‘de-code’ new words that they hear or see. This an important step in learning to read.

Phonics lesson • Daily lesson. • Mixture of written and practical activities. • Children are split into small ability groups, targeting their next steps in reading.

A wide range of resources and activities • Games • Flashcards • i. Pads • Songs • Written tasks linked to weekly spelling

Floppy’s phonics • Link to Blackpool English Hub with the aim to provided excellent phonics and early language teaching. • Sounds are taught in a clearly defined sequence. • Repetition of activities. • Children aware of lesson layout and become independent with activities.

Why is my child being checked? A statutory requirement which began in 2012. The Year 1 teachers already assess the children’s progress in phonics throughout the school year as part of their on-going classroom routines. However, the results of this phonics check in June are used to confirm whether children in Year 1 have made the expected progress in phonics. The results are used by the Government as an indication of reading skills across the country. In school the results will be used by your child’s current class teacher and passed on to the next class teacher to help them to plan for your child’s next learning steps. The results will also be given to you in the end of year report so that you have information about your child’s progress too.

How will my child be checked? Check is carefully designed not to be stressful for your child. One to one in a quiet room with their teacher They will be asked to read 40 words aloud. The test takes a few minutes – no time limit. Teacher can stop test if a child struggles They may include – familiar words they have read before - new words - nonsense words eg ‘vap’ or ‘jound’ (so children have to use their decoding skills)

When will my child be checked? The check will take place during week beginning Monday 8 th June 2020. It is important that your child is in school this week as the test can not be sat at any other time.

What are the possible results? A child has met the ‘expected’ standard in phonics or A child has in phonics not met the ‘expected’ standard

How can I help my child? Most importantly please do not worry your child about the check. Give lots of encouragement to read and enjoy books and other reading material. Parents and carers play a very important part in helping with this. Grandparents and older brothers or sisters can help, too. Set aside some ‘special’ time as often as you can to enjoy a book with your child. Please read a school book with your child at least 3 times every week and record in the yellow reading record that you have heard your child read. Teachers are available to discuss phonics check predictions and whether your child is on track.

How can I help my child? Encourage your child to ‘sound out’ unfamiliar words and then blend the sounds together from left to right. Once your child has read an unfamiliar word you can talk about what it means and help him or her to follow the story. The reading books which are sent home from school will contain the appropriate level of phonics and key words for your child. Your child will be able to work out new words from their letters and sounds ( as well as using other clues from the pictures and the context). You can highlight sounds when you read with your child. Teaching how sounds match with letters is likely to start with individual letters such as ‘s’, ‘a’ and ‘t’ and then will move on to two-letter sounds such as ‘ee’, ‘ch’ and ‘ck’. Practise spellings every week

What Else Can I Do? Lots of websites are available which will help support your child’s reading. Try www. oxfordowl. co. uk www. jollylearning. co. uk www. letters-and-sounds. com www. phonicsplay. co. uk www. ictgames. co. uk You Tube search Word games like ‘I-spy’ can also be an enjoyable way of teaching children about sounds and letters. As you are ‘out’ with your child encourage them to read everyday items like shopping lists, road signs, labels on packaging, advertisements. Please make sure that the children get a good nights sleep and come into school on time so that they have a settled start to the day. As usual please let the teacher know if there is anything which is worrying your child.

What do we expect ? Here at Bispham Endowed C. E. Primary School we pride ourselves on supporting your child in all areas of their development. We treat every child as an individual and celebrate their successes according to their abilities. All we ask is that every child tries their best.

Thank you for coming Any questions?