Preparing for the Phonics Screening Check

If you have a child in primary school, you’ll likely have heard lots about phonics. It’s an effective method of teaching children how to read, that is based on how letters (or groups of letters) represent sounds. It is taught in Reception and Key Stage 1.

In June, children in Year 1 will take the phonics screening check. You can find exact dates for when this and other primary assessments will take place on the UK government website.

Read on to find out more about the phonics screening check and to see what CGP+ has to offer to prepare pupils for it.

What is the phonics screening check?

The phonics screening check is used to check that children can decode words at the expected level — i.e. can they read unfamiliar written words by sounding them out? It’s a short test that takes around 4 to 9 minutes and is often taken by pupils one-by-one with their teacher.

The phonics screening check will let your child’s teacher know how they’re getting on with phonics and if they need any extra help to avoid falling behind with their reading.

What happens during the phonics screening check?

Children will be shown 40 words and asked to read them out loud. There will be a mix of real words and fake words (known as pseudo-words). The pseudo-words will have cartoon monsters next to them to show that they’re not real words. This stops children from trying to recall if they know the word.

The idea behind the pseudo-words is that children won’t have come across them before and that they have no attached meanings. This means children have to work out how to read them by working out the sounds that make up the word.

The test is split into two sections, with Section 1 having simpler, shorter words than Section 2.
 

What do the phonics screening check results mean?

Teachers will use the results to see whether any pupils in their class need extra help to improve their phonics skills. The results for a given school won’t be published but schools will be able to see the overall results for their local authority, as well as national and regional results.

You’ll get your child’s results in the second half of summer term and the school should help support you to help your child if need be. Any children who don’t meet the expected level will have to re-take the check in Year 2.

How to prepare for the phonics screening check

The biggest way parents can help prepare children for the phonics screening check is to encourage them to read. If children come across unfamiliar words, the first step should be to help them sound out the words, like they will do in the phonics screening check.

CGP+ has a huge range of resources for practising phonics. With these you can focus on particular sounds or types of words.

Our interactive phonics games have been created to make learning phonics fun and enjoyable for all, with loads of jolly pictures, cute characters and snazzy animations. They can be played with a whole class on interactive whiteboards or individually on phones or tablets. Another fab feature is the menu at the start of each game that allows you to customise the words that will appear in the games.

For phonics screening check prep, the real or fake games (such as Llama Drama — Real or Fake Game) are a go-to. In each question, children have to read the word shown and say whether it is real or fake. The actual goal here isn’t to get them to spot which words are fake, but to get them reading a mix of real and fake words, just like they will in the phonics screening check. 
 

If you’re preparing your children or class for the phonics screening check, then we wish you (and them) good luck!

You can learn more about phonics with our previous blogs on what phonics is and a handy run-through of all the essential phonics terms.