The new Y1 phonics screening check

[SoundsWrite]

The government's new phonics screening check is to be launched in England in June.
The results of the test will be given to the parents of each individual child but each individual school's results will not be made public.
What is the view on Mumsnet? Do you think the results should be made public or not? Either way, why or why not?
You can find out more about this test by going to the DfE site: www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/pedagogy/a00198207/faqs-year-1-phonics-screening-check

The government are very carefully marketing this test as a 'check' to highlight children that need help. This is because the anti phonics lobby are presenting it as yet another test that will put pressure on children in early years when children develop at different rates, so they argue the test is inappropriate and will mean children are pressurised. They say (amusingly) that if results are public this will lead to 'teaching to test' (oh no!) rather than children getting a mix of methods which is appropriate to them. There was a thread started a while back on mumsnet by a campaigner against the phonics check. They link up with those like Sue Palmer campaigning against too much pressur eon children in the early years.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/1245493-The-Phonics-Test-for-6-Year-Olds/AllOnOnePage

This is the mumsnet thread. Sorry I can't post it properly.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/1245493-The-Phonics-Test-for-6-Year-Olds/AllOnOnePage

thanks I hadn't seen this thread

oh I had!

Lots of teachers hate children being evaluated because they think that they are being evaluated (which is of course very true in this instance) by stealth.

On the whole, I would say that making test results public hasn't done wonders for the UK education system.

There's only a point in testing if there will be targeted intervention with those who are 'struggling' - is it envisaged that this will be funded? If not, then the tests are by and large another tactic of teacher bashing, I'd say.

Rosebud - interventions don't need to be funded. Teaching children to read doesn't cost anything besides time.

Each school already receives an SEN budget which they need to use to fund all the interventions in the school.

Most schools employ TAs who run various interventions.

Some schools divide kids up into streamed phonic groups, and all the teachers and TAs in the school take groups.......

So basically, an adult in the school has to teach the children to read. You wouldn't employ somebody extra for this.....

No, IndigoBell. Teaching children to read requires skill (which costs money to acquire, as well as time) and it does also require appropriate teaching materials (more money).

In general I am anti 'over' testing and publishing of results in primary schools, we live in Wales so although the children do SATS they tend to be marked internally (or by other local schools) and not published in league tables so good to get idea of how your child is doing, but not loads of 'teaching just to pass a test'.
However, I think publishing the results of the phonic test would be a good idea, as it has to be one test that 'being taught to pass the test' would presumably actually be beneficial to children. If they all were taught all the phonics for the test well, they would have a big help in any reading they then go on to do.
I was initially slightly about whether having non-words would be an issue - would children guess to the nearest word they no, but as they are told their are made up words it shouldn't be a problem. I gave DS (reception) the practice test and he had no problem with the non-words, and said after every word if it was a non-word or a real word. DS has been taught phonics well by his school.
I then gave him the Burt reading test to do, he came out with a score about 2.5 years ahead, I wouldn't give him a reading age that high per se, but his knowledge of phonics stood him in very good stead, even for sounding out the harder words. Did have to laugh when he worked out nourishment, and then asked what it meant. When I explained he said, is that in Welsh then, my dinner lady never uses that word .

I think part of the issue is that TAs are being left to run interventions when perhaps these are the very children who require more teacher input.

www.oecd.org/document/42/0,3746,en_2649_39263231_49477290_1_1_1_1,00.html

www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/feb/09/dividing-pupils-ability-entrench-disadvantage

as for eye tracking problems at this stage I was considering minor problems like strabismus which would be helped by glasses of course there are more serious issues but isn't it better to rule out the straightforward first.

ignore me I'm replying on the wrong thread

Bonsoir
Teaching children to read requires skill

Depends what the issues are I guess. I'm managing to teach DS, when school isn't/hasn't, because I can read and have the ability to buy books from sound foundation and phonics based home reading books.

Schools seachlight method and biff and chip books weren't helping him at all and think caused avoidable issues for DD1.

I'd love to think that publishing the phonics test results would make more parents question how reading is taught in my DC school. It probably wouldn't though as many parents feel it's all the schools business and nothing to do with them.

Bonsoir - teaching reading doesn't require any more resources than a school already has. If all you had was pen and paper you can teach children to read.

Teachers and TAs have to be trained how to teach reading - it doesn't cost any more to train them how to teach kids who have failed the phonics test - because there is nothing different that needs to be done for the intervention - besides teach them to read.

Cost is not an issue with teaching kids to read. Skill is part of the problem - but only one of many factors. ( teachers and HTs attitudes provide a much bigger part)

If only that were true. But it's not. We have this very issue at DD's school. Until we have the right books and the teachers have been trained, they will only be taught reading in a very haphazard manner.

Sure, it's easier to teach reading if you have lots of money to throw at it. But it's absolutely not necessary, only a nice to have.

What I'm saying is that school can't claim they can't do a reading intervention because they can't afford materials for it.

If your child's teacher knew what they were doing, they wouldn't need the right books. They could teach with pen and paper or whatever they did have.

But surely that is because the money has been spent on the wrong books and something other than training phonics, rather than there not being enough money in schools.

Schools absolutely should be held accountable for teaching all kids to read. And starting with accountability at the end of Y1 seems totally fair.

Interventions, be they additional staff time, additional training, additional resources, do cost money. Not to mention any assessments and SEN support that children may need.

If this could all be done in existing budgets with no problems, there wouldn't be any need for a test, as children would all be reading by yr 1, but we all know that's not the case.

Rosebad - the reasons most kids don't learn to read is because they're not taught very well.

The reason they're not taught very well is because teachers are allowed to do whatever they want in the classroom and don't have to follow 'best practice'.

All schools are already expected to teach all kids to read. Any kid who is behind by the end of Y1 should already be on an intervention.

There is nothing new in this - besides the govt asking for the data.

No extra money is required - because this is all stuff they should already be doing.

They cost money of course, but schools DO have money for these things.

The attitude of the HT and the staff is the most important thing.

Not to mention how much money the school would save by teaching all kids to read in the infants. Then you wouldn't need to fund endless reading interventions in KS2.......

IndigoBell - "The reason they're not taught very well is because teachers are allowed to do whatever they want in the classroom and don't have to follow 'best practice'."

You are absolutely spot on there, and it's just the same in France and I cannot for the life of me understand how and why this situation is allowed to persist. Other industries don't allow individual employees to make up their mind as to how to go about their jobs like this.

But, for whatever reasons, schools aren't all teaching children to read effectively.

Clearly, there are reasons as to why this doesn't happen and just telling teachers that they should be following 'good practice' obviously isn't sufficient.

It's also not true to say that it's the teacher's fault that children struggle to learn to read. There are many developmental/educational reasons that children have difficulties in reading.

Children do also learn at different rates and have different learning styles, just the same as adults. In schools where there is a lot of mobility (about 10% of our Y1 child at our school have been in at least one other school already), there will definitely be gaps in children's learning.

If phonics were used well and systematically according to best practice across the country, there would be fewer issues of gaps in learning when children move schools (which they do and always have done).