Phonics test

[CandOdad]

My son tells me he was told his score straight after his test today. Is this normal since last year my daughter had no clue till we got her end of school report. Also is it the norm for his teacher to carry out the test? Again the only reason I ask is because that wasn't the case for DD last year.

My ds did his last week. His teacher told me his score because she was so excited and because we were having a general chat.

Phonics for most children will continue is some form or another. It is still valuable for spelling etc. My ds doesn't do phonics work now so doubt he will do much going forward.

I can't see any justification for lowering the pass mark. It's unlikely a child would make 8 or even 6 silly mistakes. I wish that there was more flexibility when children could resit the phonics check. It seems silly to make children wait another year when they might pass it after 1 term of year 2. I would like more able children to get the check out of the way early.

I'm not sure 'getting it out of the way' is really helpful or worthwhile. It only covers a very limited number of graphemes even children getting 40/40 could have some huge gaps in their knowledge and almost all children will need much more phonics teaching after the test. I'm sure there would be a huge temptation to just keep retesting children until they hit 32. Not to mention the government would have to keep developing multiple tests per year.

If children are given appropriate intervention and make huge strides in the autumn term, to the point they are likely to pass, they aren't going to go backwards between then and summer. Honestly, it's a simple list of 40 words/non-words, not some complicated test that needs revising for.

I seem to remember in the run up to the general election there was the suggestion that further phonics checks may be introduced in KS2.

The yr3 retest or something else? If we're going to use the current test as an end point rather than an early screen to check that children have the basics of phonics, it would make sense to have a second harder test. Something along the lines of the later RWI or the last few words of the PI one.

RafaIsTheKingOfClay I accept that phonics teaching should not stop after year one as there is more advanced phonics. However my daughter has spent the summer term of year 1 being bored rigid with basic phonics. She was given a "mock" at the begining of the spring term and got 40/40. She really did not need basic phonics teaching. It would have been more constructive for her to work on advanced phonics that she needs for life rather than some random test.

I feel the current phonics test has a lot of potential for cheating. It is administered over a period of days. My daughter's school tested the more able children on the first day and the less able on the second day. Is there a danger that less able children get a heads up on what is going to be on the test.

I would like an IPAD app which could select words from a large bank of real and nonsense words. The camera on the IPAD could be used to record the check which would would help to prevent cheating. There would be no need for the govenment to devise a new test twice a year. Moderators could watch some randomly selected videos. There should be a least a gap of a term between resits to ensure that the school spends some time revising their phonics. (Just like you have to have a month between resits for your driving test.)

"If children are given appropriate intervention and make huge strides in the autumn term, to the point they are likely to pass, they aren't going to go backwards between then and summer. Honestly, it's a simple list of 40 words/non-words, not some complicated test that needs revising for."

A good school will not waste half the summer term revising for a phonics test. However my daughter's school has got the children to revise intensely for it. Ironically they made my daughter nervous and she made one silly mistake. The phonics check is a high stakes test for a school that is OFSTED inadequate because only 29% of the previous cohort passed.

I think a second phonics test to mark the end point of phonics teaching would help children. However I would like children to take the test when they are ready rather than arbitary date like the summer term of year 3. Some children need a little longer, just like some people need more driving lessons to pass their driving test.

I was surprised that my son got told the score, but even more surprised that he seemed to have known a lot of what the other kids got, not sure this is the best thing. He told me of one boy in his class who got 0, why did he know that?

... and ReallyTired 's story is why some parents lose faith in some teachers and the whole profession is thus diminished.

A school just needs to do its job to ensure most children achieve the required phonics level at end y1. A school that intensively coaches for it to the detriment of further teaching is doing children a real disservice, and you would imagine will see results worsen in y2 because of it too. Very short sighted.

I totally get your point there, ReallyTired. It is hugely frustrating and unfortunately as a parent there isn't a huge amount you can do except try and help your own child.

Sorry, it does sound like I was expressing my frustration at you in my earlier post. It wasn't meant to. It's frustration with a system that is failing to teach reading well and systematically seems to be blaming the phonics check for that. Spending hours revising for the check lets down the least able and the most able and probably those in between as well, but that isn't the fault of the test itself. It's teachers not understanding it.

Our school has concentrated on quality phonics teaching for all children this year. The whole of KS1 split into phonics groups and work on phonics at their level. DD hasn't been bored.

My concern is next year... She has been in the top group for phonics this year so I'm not quite sure whether she'll do the same again next year or if there will be a new group for the 4 y1 children that were in that group.

Mine got 39/40. Apparently they were promised sweets if they got 40/40 so much for the "healthy schools" thing. She said "behave" instead of "beehive" or something. Still got the sweets though.

Dd made the same mistake and said "behave" for beehive. Apparently she thought that beehive should be written as two words. It minds me of the film Nanny McFee when the children distrust the attempt of their father to Marry a really horrible woman.

The DfE have warned people not to post lists until next week.

ReallyTired there isn't an end point of phonics teaching ... Many secondary schools are now teaching phonics .

The point of the check is to identify which children need longer/additional instruction at that stage .. It's not a test but it's portrayed as one and the fact that many schools continue to panic and cram for it suggests that phonics teaching continues to be a lottery.

I'm a year one teacher and had a day and a half out of class to do the test with my 30 children.

I kept the score sheet hidden on my lap under the table, so children couldn't see it.

At the end I just did a "well done! You tried so hard! Brilliant!" and let them choose an "extra special sticker". I didn't tell any of them the scores.

The whole test was no big deal to them. They are so used to coming and doing random little jobs with me.

I gave all mine a Cadburys hero (healthy school everything in moderation) at the end and they all felt rightly proud

Thanks Mrz

Zingalley. Sounds like you might teach DD1 Just as it should be. She did it, got a sticker. Most of the kids seemed to have one (I suspect the others had just been lost on the field, not not awarded).

Dd3 is convinced she did the test twice

zingally, your approach sounds just as it should be. If tests are meant to assess learning and teaching and where kids need to learn something, there should not be mocks or rehearsals of that. I don't think schools should even be compared on any year 1 test at that point, let alone kids, judgement if any should be on how well they address any problems.

Schools aren't compared on the Phonics check results

Ofsted certainly look at the phonics check results. Dd's school was rated inadequate because the phonics results were 29%