The phonics screening check is a quick check of your child’s ability to decode words using only his or her phonic knowledge. It helps us to confirm whether your child has met the expected standard for a child at the end of Year 1. The check is a statutory requirement for all children in Year 1 and takes place each year in the summer term.
The Phonics Screening Check is a compulsory assessment that all children in year 1 must take. It is used to assess a students phonic decoding skills. To pass a student must correctly read around 32/40 words correctly.
The 40 words in the check are split into sections progressing from simple word structures to trickier words with five or six letters. The often confusing thing about the screening check is that 20/40 of the words that children are expected to read are ‘nonsense words’, alien words that have no meaning. This really tests a child’s phonic decoding skills to check they have the appropriate standard.
There are past phonics screening checks from 2012 – 2016 on our website https://portal.fonics.co.uk/parent just choose ' Past Phonics Screenings'.
You can also download Read with Fonics to play at home on Google, Apple or Amazon!
https://www.readwithfonics.com/app
Or watch my Phonics screening hints and tips video!
Perhaps the important thing to take away from all this is to not stress out, and certainly don’t let your child feel anxious about the check in anyway. If a child can read, this check is easy.