Year 1 phonics screening

[elliejjtiny]

Ds is 5y 8m and in year 1. He has gdd, we've been told it's mild. The HV and preschool used to do quite detailed assessments and make it really clear how far behind he was. School were a lot more vague about it although we have older dc as well so we have a fair idea about how far behind he is.

Today we had his review meeting and we got his phonics screening test results. They do it a few times before the official test at the end of the year. So far he has mostly scored 0 but this week he has scored 3. Our older 3 dc scored top marks or nearly. This sounds like more than mild gdd to me.

How is his reading? The phonics screening is quite a specific skill, it doesn’t say much about his degree of GDD.

We did our first mock this week and a few scored similarly with no current diagnosis. I’m in year 1 as an LSA.

This has very little bearing on what sort of development delay is present. This just shows that he isn’t picking up or applying phonic skills quickly.

Is he on the SEN register? What are his outcomes/targets?

You can do past ones by looking in the gov website.
Can he do the A-Z phonics but just not blend?
It seems like he is probably young in the year group so say a 1 year delay would put him at 4.8 and near the end of yr r.

Thankyou. His reading is quite behind. He's struggling to read phase 2 reading books at the moment. He can write his name although it's quite wobbly still and he can write numbers 1 to 10 but sometimes they are backwards or upside down. He is on the sen register and gets support all the time from a ta who works with him and 5 other children. He's on band 3 funding. Targets include to be able to hold a pencil correctly and to play with the other children rather than alongside them.

He's on band 3 funding.

In my area that means he has an EHC plan-is that what you mean?

No, definitely no ehcp. I've been asking about one since he was 3 but school and preschool have always said he isn't severe enough. I think band 3 is the highest you can go without an ehcp in our area but I'm not sure.

what is your main concern?
do you think he is not getting enough support from school?

What LEA are you in?

What is your biggest concern? What area do you live in?

Is he in a mainstream school or not?
It’s possible that he has dyslexia or dyscalculia. But the only fireproof way to know for sure is to request a specialist evaluation from a expert in your area. That should tell you more.

I just wanted to check if a score that low meant he was more severely delayed than I thought he was. All the information seems to say that almost all children will get nearly all the words right and he is way behind that.

We're in Somerset.

Sorry, cross post. He's in mainstream. I wondered about dyslexia/dyscalcula but he is delayed in everything. He didn't walk until he was nearly 3 and he was in nappies during the day until he was nearly 5.

On it’s own, I don’t think it’s it can tell you much about the GDD. However, it does suggest a significant delay in his reading skills. Do you know whether the words he got right were real words or non-words?

Those screening things they do for child development that cover things like self care, physical, etc. Do they go up to that age? Could you ask for him to be assessed properly (maybe ask GP /HV?).

Targets to play with rather than alongside and the other things you mention do sound more like a general delay rather than just reading.

From my very limited experience, it seems to me that children can often just about manage in y1, and then in y2 the gaps become more obvious.

I'd wander over to the SN Chat or the SEN board if I were you.

Thankyou. I don't know which words he got right. He is on phase 2 reading books and he is only able to read one or two words in the book if that. I'm not sure what is average for his age though.

The HV used to do a really good assessment called standards of growth I think that showed exactly how far behind he was in all areas. The last one was when he was nearly 4 and showed his development was about 2 years behind in all areas. The school assessments are really vague though and say things like 30-50 months and there is a massive difference between a child who is 2y 4m and a child who is 4y 2m.

Maybe put your concerns in writing to SENCO, copied to class teacher. Harder to brush under the carpet if it is in writing.

Say concerned that DS is/may be delayed in many areas

• reading
• social skills
• ?numeracy
• ?physical
• ??understanding of the world

Be explicit, give a short example for each, using their own records / targets wherever possible. Say results of the assessment when he was 4.

Say please could SENCO do an across the board review, or get school nurse / or whoever to do one.

Make sure you are positive about the school, you appreciate all they have done, yadda yadda, but concerned gap is widening not closing.

Maybe a timescale, 'I realise this is too short to achieve prior to half term, but would hope this can be done within the first fortnight after so any actions can be discussed and put in place before Easter.

That sort of thing?

If he were in Reception, would he be towards the bottom of the class there too do you think?

My DS is also in year one and has autism which is quite severely affected by. However, he passed the phonics screening with full marks, can read very well and is generally getting on very well academically. If you met him he comes across as being generally delayed, doesn't play with other children, and seems to have similar targets to your DS.

I can’t speak for the rest of his development, but that score and struggling to read a phase 2 decidable book would put him st the bottom of a reception class at this point in the year.

Typically you’d expect almost all children to be blending CVC words by Christmas of Reception year. Is he getting any 1:1 reading intervention on top of his daily phonics lesson.

Thankyou, that's really helpful. Knowing he is at the bottom end of reception is a lot more useful than what the school assessments tell me. He is similar in development to my dn who has just turned 3 but that doesn't tell me much as I don't know if my dn is average for her age or not. Tbh as long as he is happy and trying his best then I am happy. I just worry that as the gap between him and his peers gets wider then the other children in his class won't want to play with him. The target of playing with the other children instead of alongside them was a surprise to me as he has always been very sociable and loves playing with his siblings, cousins, my friends dc etc. He is waiting to have his 2nd set of grommets put in so I'm wondering if him not being able to hear properly has made him struggle socially.