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Phonics test

78 replies

CandOdad · 18/06/2015 21:36

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.

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Lindy2 · 26/06/2015 09:28

The phonics test results were one of the first things mentioned on our schools Ofsted report so I think they do use it as a comparison along with the SATs results. I'm not sure that I really like that much pressure indirectly placed on 5 and 6 year olds. In a lot of other countries they wouldn't be expected to read anything at that age let alone be rated on their ability to read a list of made up words.

Yokohamajojo · 26/06/2015 10:01

Lindy2, that is so true! My ds2 is 6 (born in May) and did the phonics test last week, he got 38/40 which for me is brilliant! His cousin from another European country is 6 (born in Feb) and hasn't even started school yet! Starts in August

mrz · 26/06/2015 16:30

Ofsted do look at the results for the school but they are not compared to other schools. Individual results must be reported to parents but the school isn't required to report any other data. Yes schools that do well are probably shouting their results from the rooftop but schools that do badly can keep that knowledge behind closed doors.

mrz · 26/06/2015 16:33

There shouldn't be any pressure it's a a screening check to identify which children may need extra input ... The fact some schools are drilling and wasting time teaching pseudo words suggests teacher phonics knowledge is poor

GreenEggsAndNaiceHam · 28/06/2015 20:15

But Lindy2! It's not pressure on the children, it's pressure on the schools to teach properly. If that's what the schools are doing, then most of the children won't have a problem reaching the "pass" mark. Also a lot of other countries don't teach cildren to read in English, it's a really tricky language to learn to read, much more so than any other aruropean Language so takes a lot more learning.

StarlightMcKenzee · 29/06/2015 14:51

It's 32!!!

mrz · 29/06/2015 18:52

It hasn't been announced yet (threshold will published tomorrow) so it will be interesting to see if it stays at 32 as it has been every year since it was introduced.

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 29/06/2015 18:57

I thought it was being published today?

meditrina · 29/06/2015 19:00

It was published today, and it is 32

www.gov.uk/government/publications/phonics-screening-check-2015-materials

poppy70 · 29/06/2015 19:25

Yeah we found out before lunch.

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 29/06/2015 19:28

Is the mark scheme still providing a few examples of acceptable pronunciations of the pseudo words or is it now a complete list of all the acceptable answers?

mrz · 29/06/2015 19:40

Thanks I've been looking at this all day.

kristine007 · 29/06/2015 20:13

My kid got results today - failed with 31 :(
Not that I care but it means he will have to do extra phonics next year.

MrsKCastle · 29/06/2015 21:31

Kristine I'd much rather my child just failed than just passed. I know that sounds strange, but there really won't be much difference in level of phonics knowledge between children who score 31/32/33. And if they 'just pass', there is the danger that some schools will claim that they don't need much more support as they 'have reached the expected level'.

mrz · 30/06/2015 06:51

I think some people see a score of 32+ as meaning the child knows all the phonics they need ... It's a a screening check of basic phonics appropriate for children in the early stages of learning to read and spell

lougle · 30/06/2015 07:52

I've just done the check with DD3 and she scored 32, so I think she probably failed the school test, which is fine because she's quite weak, I think.

StarlightMcKenzee · 30/06/2015 10:57

I have no idea what my dd got. The day she was tested I sent her to school requesting she wasn't tested that day as she'd been up until 2am at a family celebration the night before (I know, I know), but they ignored me and tested her anyway.

She's strong on her phonics so maybe they were just confident she would pass regardless.

Or perhaps there is a gov imposed rule that the kids have to done in a certain chronological order?

odyssey2001 · 30/06/2015 20:23

The school did not ignore you. They were legally required to do it on that day.

odyssey2001 · 30/06/2015 20:24

32 is the pass mark. Announced yesterday.

LibrariesGaveUsPower · 30/06/2015 20:25

Were they Odessy? Not all DD1's class were done the same day.

LibrariesGaveUsPower · 30/06/2015 20:25

Oh blooming autocorrect. Sorry about the name spelling. What was it even doing there?

mrz · 30/06/2015 20:26

No they weren't they could administer the check any time between the 15th and 26th

StarlightMcKenzee · 30/06/2015 20:41

Ah, so they did ignore me lol. Oh well, I suppose they could hardly take account of every parental request for a particular day/time.

She might have failed but tbh I can't imagine that she did. She can spell more words than I can.

soapboxqueen · 30/06/2015 21:12

Maybe they had already booked supply to cover the rest of the class and just needed to get it done....Maybe

StarlightMcKenzee · 30/06/2015 22:09

I think they were doing them all week, but I suppose its up to them. It's not something that bothers me. She probably shouldn't have been up all night the night before but she was, and she was subsequently tested and that is just the way it is.