Phonics advice

[Cookiemonster13]

Looking for advice

My 6 year old boy in Year 2 is struggling with phonics and reading. He has struggled consistently since reception. He seems to get the individual sounds but blending is the challenge for him. I've consistently raised concerns with the school and they have done group interventions. At the end of year 1 we scored 9 on the phonics screening test and at my wits end I hired a tutor who we saw a few times a week in summer and now weekly. We have saw improvements he is reading level 3 books with more fluency (however, still perhaps a way behind where he should be).

The school suggested in July he should repeat year 1 phonics which I accepted, however, after the summer they said they had heard him read and had allowed him to progress. At parents evening his teacher wasn't sure of his progress as phonics is taught as a year group and as it's a village school classes are mixed ages. I made an appointment with the phonics teacher who told me he has too many gaps and should be with the year 1's for phonics. A bit annoying as if I hadn't raised the issue would they have raised it with me.I spoke to headteacher and she has said she agrees he should be with year 1. She will refer for Sen support (feels like this just gives school advice). Her main reasoning is suspected dyslexia. Rather worryingly she said he may never catch up.

Couple of notable points. He seems like a bright boy, his vocabulary is excellent and he is really interested in the world and science but for whatever reason phonics is not something that is clicking. The other thing is in a short time he has made great progress with the tutor so he is capable of learning when supported. The school are generally unaware of his progress haven't heard him read since September(!) and when I ask what gaps he has they just say he isn't at level 5! I've asked them to reassess him properly.

Apologies for long post has anyone got any advice of what I can do to support him. We do daily reading. Also I'm frustrated with the school as it feels like they have basically said he will always be behind.

Everyone is entitled to their experiences and opinions. Mine are based on teaching KS1 for over 20 years. In my experience having taught many children to read, the majority of children have the best chance of learning to read with phonics. I’m not a phonics purist and trained when the searchlights method was popular. However, when taught well using a very robust scheme, phonics is highly effective. I shared above how regular assessment will help identify and fill gaps, supplemented with decodable texts and regular reading practice. Some children need extra support and a few need a different approach, but the OPs child is very young, not far behind and supported by a proactive parent. Phonics should be what they focus on for now. A dyslexia assessment is a good idea to help.

The hearing issues are extremely significant.
children with hearing issues (grommets, glue ear and similar) often struggle with phonics simply because they can’t hear some of the differences.

in your shoes I’d be pushing ahead on three fronts - firstly medically to see if anything can be done to help. Secondly on the school front - in most areas there are specialist teachers of the deaf (which also covers partial hearing loss) who may be able to come and see him and help advise.

an EHCP is probably also a good idea and certainly getting him on the SEN register.

little and often is good advice in cases like this and if you can do work with him at home to help work on blending and other skills.

there are quite a few programmes - either computer or otherwise they might help - my DS did wordshark but toe by toe also gets a lot of recommendations.

If he’s writing words phonetically and getting 15/20 on that screening test you did then he’s getting there. It’s a case of finding the gaps and doing some targeted work to fill them. I’d be hesitant to put him back into year 1 because there is no reason he couldn’t be picking up some of the year 2 work while also plugging the gaps. Especially if some of those gaps are due to his hearing issues.

I’s also b interested to know what the mistakes were on the screening check you did. That will tell you quite a lot.

@hopspot I take your point about phonics but it really is different when there's deafness involved. I also taught primary for 20 years and 15 years as a teacher of the deaf.

@Octavia64 you're right about the deafness. Oddly it sometimes means children can identify the phonemes but just can't blend them. In many areas the ToDs don't see glue ear children.

He would be very unlikely to get an EHCP at this stage.

So he said Pip instead of Pib and rink instead of ring. He gets ng and nk mixed up a lot and we have practised it a lot think that's an example of his hearing impacting. He struggles with th words.

i had a long chat to his tutor as we see her Saturday mornings. She thinks he is progressing and made huges strides in a few months. It's longer blends he struggles with almost like he fluffs the ending so starts well and just says anything at the end.

Going to practice hard over half term (well as much as you can with a 6 year old 5-10 mins a few times a day). Going over sounds that he doesn't know tutor also gave me a list of priority areas so we will work through those. Will throw in high frequency and common exception words as well. I also have a list of cvcc and ccvc words might look for some slightly longer words.

Agree the hearing is a barrier have messaged the hospital pushing for what is the plan as don't want to keep watching and waiting. I've also booked an eye test. No concerns there but will hopefully rule that out.

Thanks everyone for all this advice I feel more prepared.

How does your son feel about doing all the reading ??

He didn't like it when he struggled and we would only manage 1-2 pages (and I would have to prompt a lot of the words) but now he is finding it easier we manage the majority of the book in the same time and he is reading with minimal support. We only do 5-10 mins not long periods. If he is tired or irritable we do fewer pages. As much as I want him to develop he is still little so I take cues from him and how much energy and attention he has.

He loves seeing the tutor as she plays games with him after they have read a book.

He likes books in general though and wants me to read to him a lot. Currently working through Hotel Flamingo at night.

It really does sound like you’re doing everything you possibly can for him, and none of what you’ve written points to a child who “will never catch up.” Some kids just take longer for phonics to click, especially bright, curious children with strong vocabulary but weaker decoding skills. That profile is honestly very common, and many of those children go on to become perfectly capable readers once the right support is in place. What really stands out is how well he responds when the teaching is targeted. The progress he’s made with the tutor shows he can learn these skills — he just needs consistency and instruction that matches the level he’s actually working at. That’s a really positive sign. The school, on the other hand, should be giving you much clearer information. Saying “he isn’t at Level 5” tells you nothing. You deserve to know exactly which sounds, digraphs, and blending steps he struggles with. The fact that they haven’t heard him read since September is… not great, and it explains why you’re the one picking up all the pieces. Having him join Year 1 phonics is not a failure or a backwards step — it’s simply the stage he needs consolidating. Loads of schools group phonics by ability rather than by age. If he needs more time on those earlier phases, identifying it now is actually the best thing they can do. As for dyslexia, it’s worth keeping an open mind without panicking. Early dyslexia indicators can look like what you’re describing, but dyslexia absolutely responds to structured, explicit teaching — which he’s already benefiting from with the tutor. A SEN referral can help the school stay accountable and make sure he gets more regular monitoring. At home, it sounds like you’re doing all the right things: daily reading, encouragement, and patience. Little phonics games, oral blending, and short, low-pressure decodable reading sessions can make a real difference too. If you ever need simple decodable worksheets or blending practice, worksheetzone has some nice, straightforward phonics worksheets you can print and use in quick five-minute bursts. But honestly? You’re not looking at a child doomed to be “always behind.” You’re looking at a child who’s bright, engaged, responsive to teaching, and simply needs more structured support than the average kid. With consistent help — like he’s already getting — there is absolutely no reason he can’t make strong, steady progress. If you want, I can help you write a calm but firm follow-up message to the school asking for a proper phonics breakdown of what he can and can’t do.

Don't use high frequency flashcards - these will give him the idea that you don't have to blend, you can remember words by sight instead. Focus on phonics.
I agree getting the gaps identified with school would be the first step.

Sorry but this is not good advice. There are some children who need sight reading. Not all children learn to read through phonics. You can see that in other posts on this thread.

No person learning English can learn every word by sight. It simply isn't possible - and there are all kinds of new words every year that adult readers can decode when they see them for the first time.
You are talking nonsense based on 1970s principles. Go back to Peter and Jane.

That's so funny. I'm a teacher of the deaf and work with children who can't all learn by blending phonics. It really does not work for all children. Go back to your ableist world!

1. Is the OP's child deaf? I mean, maybe they are, but the OP didn't say so.
2. Are deaf readers generally as successful as hearing readers, on average? No, they aren't.
3. Can some Deaf readers learn to use phonics? Yes they can.
4. Can all Deaf readers who don't use phonics, read new words without any additional information just by sight? No they cannot.

1. I never said they were. My experience of teaching language and reading for more than 30 years is that phonics alone doesn't work for all children and deafness is one example.
2. That's a really ableist comment. I suspect I have more experience of deaf children reading and the vast majority do read well eventually. In fact it's a priority as they need to read for some of the communication eg subtitles, texts etc. all my deaf colleagues read very well thank you very much.
3. I never said some deaf learners can't learn by phonics. Of course they can. Deafness is a broad range.
4. That's just stupid. Nobody said sight reading is exclusive and stops anyone also using some phonics skills.

Gove et al did a lot of damage by pushing a phonics only method. There are many reasons why he was so unpopular with teachers. He didn't know what he was doing.

Not all children take to phonics - can you help him learn to read anyway ?

as an adult I had to give up volunteering in schools for reading because phonics just doesn’t make any sense to me - I picked up reading through osmosis it seems

If you think adult readers can get by without using phonics:

How would you read
Feamington
Ladford
Archetope
Hadderley
Mirchstone
Or indeed any other word you've never come across before?

Are you still making things up? Nobody has said anyone uses no phonics at all. In my experience some deaf children , and some other children, learn better by sight reading. They may well then also develop their blending skills to be able to use those to decode. Phonics really isn't the panacea some people think it is.

Given how often phonics don’t work / you read a strange word the best you can. and it doesn’t matter if you sound it wrong because it’s meaning is more important and a dictionary doesn’t need you to say the word correctly

how do you say scone? Potato?

bow tie
bow down
bough of a tree

?

Phonics doesn't help much with Loughborough!

He needs to be seated with his good ear towards the teacher. I have hearing loss on one side and if I give a reading test, the learner has to sit on my hearing side. I have always had good results using Toe by Toe 1:1 but it should be 10-15 minutes five days a week, so as a tutor I teach parents how to use it. You can order it online.

I don’t know how to read any of those words using phonics - I suspect they have local pronunciations anyway. Apologies if you were being sarcastic!

I made them all up but they are all possible English words.
If you see an unfamiliar place name on a map do you just say "nobody can read that" or do you give it a go using phonics?

I had fun with some American friends who tried to pronounce some English names - Bournemouth, Leicestershire, Loughborough etc.

Yet more examples of phonics knowledge not being enough.

Lots of listening at home and less pressure for him to make the sounds.

The mistake you're making is thinking that phonics = one letter combo always makes the same sound.
All of those use regular phoneme to grapheme correspondences. Just not the same one every time.