How do I help my daughter prepare for the yr 1 phonics check?

[Churmy123]

Hi
My dd is 5 (6 at the end of July) and is in year 1. She enjoys school, is well behaved and as far as I know doing well and progressing as she should be. The feedback from her teacher has always been positive. At the last parents evening I was told that she has a flair for creative writing and her writing skills and handwriting are at a year 3/4 level. She also said my dd was one of the 'better' readers and in on turqoise books. At home she is currently confidently reading Enid Blytons Famous Five books. Yesterday after school the teacher called me in to discuss my dds phonics skills. They had done a 'mock' test (last years test I believe) and my dd had only scored 29 out of 40 (32 being the 'pass' mark). She asked if I could do some extra work with my dd at home to try and get her up to the 32 mark before the 'test' in June. She gave me some sheets with words on to work through with my dd and also recommended the 'phonics play' website. We did some of this at home last night and my dd appeared to find it easy and didn't struggle with any of the words. Do I just continue doing this at home? Or could it be that she was having an 'off' day on the day of the 'mock' check? Or is it the 'alien' words that are confusing her? I'm a little confused!!!
Thanks. x

[daftdame]

mrz well the children, for whatever reason, were well prepared.

[daftdame]

Sorry my last post to lougle was to MaizieD.

[lougle]

I think you mean maizieD, daftdame.

[lougle]

xpost.

[mrz]

I disagree wonderingagain

I suggest looking at the daya from Sounds-Write which follows 1607 children over the period 2003-2009 and measures the improvement in SPELLING AGE!


www.sounds-write.co.uk/docs/sounds_write_research_report_2009.pdf

[daftdame]

maizieD How could a parent discern whether their child's school administers the test badly / or whether their child is distressed in the test?

If they don't know what to look for, they may second guess their own experiences and views concerning their child's ability in reading since teachers set themselves up as 'experts'. Some teachers are very good, but we have a history in this country of children 'slipping through the net'. Because the figures are not published they wouldn't necessarily know whether to question the school.

[maizieD]

daftdame;

Sorry, the 'reading happens by magic' bit of my post was for L & S, not you

How could a parent discern whether their child's school administers the test badly / or whether their child is distressed in the test?

You were the one who was postulating that the test could be distressing for a child. I assumed you had some reason for suggesting it. The only reason that I could think of for a child being distressed by the Phonics Check is that their teacher has made a huge Thing of it beforehand (like they do with KS2 SATs) and got the child wound up about it. Which would be completely irresponsible on the part of the teacher, not to mention unnecessary. It is a long time since my children were 6y olds, but I recall that they were both pretty accepting of whatever happened at school, however strange it may have seemed to an adult. I don't think reading a few words to their teacher would have bothered them...

[learnandsay]

I don't know what the scope for administering the test badly (from a child's perspective) is, but the rules don't allow help. So if the child is floundering with a word (which is very probable) it's probably used to getting reading support. This, according to the rules, is not allowed. Hopefully the test is too short to allow for real distress to occur but I can imagine twinges of discomfort for children who are looking for absent pointers during moments of confusion. I suppose the whole thing could be looked upon as a necessary evil, a bit like the pain children experience when taking their jabs. Perhaps the children should get a spoonful of jam after the phonics check.

[daftdame]

maizieD Sadly, I myself was never that accepting (even from a very young age) - can't you guess?

[bestbefore]

my son "failed" this test last year...terrible to be a failure aged 6.
anyway afterwards we discovered this app by pearson which may help...certainly quite fun if you have an ipad or ipod type thingy.

[daftdame]

maisieD & Learnandsay - On the subject of 'innate ability' and languages have you ever looked at Daniel Everett's study of the Piraha people? A digression I know, but fascinating.

[christinarossetti]

Sorry, I don't understand how phonics isn't good for spelling. Without understanding how sounds build words, children can only use memory, which limits them.

[daftdame]

christinarossetti - I think a grasp of only rudimentary phonics or incomplete phonic knowledge can lead to bad spelling.

[daftdame]

A good visual recognition of the shape of a word or muscle memory in the way a word is written can aid spelling also.

[learnandsay]

There are multiple ways to spell many sounds, so spelling well is a question of knowing which spelling is required. The same memory limitations apply.

[wonderingagain]

My dd has SEN and everything was delayed. She learned to read phonetically and now spells like that although slowly it's subsiding as she's learning to spell by repeating the letters one by one - it' a different process.

DD1 has no SEN, I taught her to read at 4 myself by sounding out groups of letters, breaking down words into two or 3 parts covering the letters with my fingers. I guess that's phonetic. She's an excellent speller but I think she remembers a whole word at a time, visually. Also I'm a bit of a spelling geek - it may be hereditary.

I think it's important to assess reading ability young in order to monitor schools intake and will give a better picture of schools/ the system's effectiveness. But calling a test and getting parents is not going to help anyone.

[daftdame]

Agree about the testing wonderinagain, it should just be a tool. A 360 degree approach should be used actually assess children, which includes listening to parents and taking their experiences seriously.

Cries citing 'expertise' and wearing qualifications like a badge, insisting tests are infallible... just makes me question the credibility.

[daftdame]

And I think whole school results, if submitted to the LA, should be published.

[wonderingagain]

I wonder if the results would be a better indicator of progress than sats?

[maizieD]

my son "failed" this test last year...terrible to be a failure aged 6.

Did some very insensitive person tell him that the had 'failed'? There's no need to do so.

No-one should be regarding children who don't meet the standard as 'failures'. They should be looking to see what the problem is and working to rectify it.

[daftdame]

I'm not sure the results of the phonic check would be a better indicator, but an additional indicator, yes.

If a child did not do well and a parent finds the class didn't do well, in fact the results last year were poor also, they would question the quality of teaching.

At the moment the school could just tell the parent the child has SEN and offer a 'programme' (which all takes additional time) therefore covering up bad practice (at least in the short term).

I'm not saying this would be a school's preferred option, however a lot of 'bumpy' starts could be prevented if there was more transparency in education.

[maizieD]

The problem with the 'SATs' (actually 'National Curriculum Tests' or NCTs) is that they do not test whether a child has a secure knowledge of how to work out what words 'say'. The best they can do is indicate that a child can get the gist of a text. And they can throw up some pretty odd results. I have worked with a number of children with a KS2 L4 in English who have no idea how to read multisyllable words.

The Phonics Check is an attempt to fill the gap in skills testing and to identify children who need extra help at an early age before they fall far behind their peers. When you've worked with a succession of Y7 children who have never been asked to read more than a few words at a time you realise how enormous the gap can become.

[mrz]

"So if the child is floundering with a word (which is very probable) it's probably used to getting reading support."

In answer to daftdame this would be a clear indication that the school has not only administered the check badly but have been teaching badly too. Any school/teacher who fosters a climate of dependence in the classroom are letting down pupils.

[mrz]

"I think a grasp of only rudimentary phonics or incomplete phonic knowledge can lead to bad spelling."

I agree totally which is why I think the check is essential. Many schools have used similar checks for years as part of their internal assessment it is a pity that it is having to be made statutory in order for all schools to assess effectively.

[daftdame]

erm, mrz your reference is from learnandsay's post. But I would agree with you in that if the test is administered the children should be familiar with the same kind of activity.