Phonics test result - really worried

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My DD is 6 next month and has struggled with phonics and reading massively since reception. Unlike my DS who flew through reading she just can’t get the hang of it. We just got her end of year one phonics test back and she got 14 (the expected age mark is 32). We read at home, practice writing etc I don’t know what else I can do, does anyone have any suggestions?

im feeling awful as the first time today I snapped and got frustrated while doing reading together and her completely messing up the words and I know I’m a horrible parent I’m just so worried

Is it possible that she has dyslexia?

Was it a total suprise? How did she do in the practice ones the school did a few weeks before?

I would make an appointment to chat to her teacher.

First question.
Has she been taught pure phonics or have school/you been doing whole word / guess from context stuff too to confuse?

Second question.
Does she know some phonics, and use phonics, and able to blend those?

Phonics doesn't work for everyone but it has best success rate as far as I understand, and it may be better to continue at least another year before confusing with something else.

Phonics doesn’t work for all children. It’s fashionable now and for good reason, it does work well for most but not all. It wasn’t used much when I was little.
She may have a learning difference but it may also just not work for her.

Thanks everyone

it wasn’t a surprise as we’ve been in touch about her difficulties with reading and phonics and she has been in a catch up group. I guess I thought with all the additional support she would have caught up a bit at least

she struggles most with blending as in she can sound out words but then says something totally different and also struggles with diagraphs

I would keep practicing with sounds and blending over the summer. Eg 'would you like more ch i p s?'
Flash cards for the phonics scheme and a pist box might help too. Little and often, and go back to phase 1.

Agree with the PP that if you haven’t noticed any other global delays which might indicate a learning disability then she could well be dyslexic

This sounds exactly like my daughter last year. She is waiting on her private dyslexia assessment (won't be carried out till she is 8) and school have her on the SEN register as "dyslexic tendancies" currently.

I’ll definitely keep that in mind, I haven’t noticed any other SEN tendencies but have always wandered about dyslexia

It just hasn't clicked yet. As others have said, some children just don't get phonics and cope better with a whole word approach (flash cards, learning by sight). Unfortunately, the government expect them all to learn the same and pass their phonics screening as a mark of good progress. Judging reading skills based on whether they can decode made up 'alien' words is madness!

She'll re-sit in Year 2 and should receive interventions in school to support her with this. Speak to the school if you're worried. It's amazing how quickly 14 can change into 32+ once things finally click. It's definitely possible she could still pass next year. In the meantime, all you can do is keep plugging away as, as soul destroying as it is, the constant practise will be helping her.

Speak to school about your concerns. Could it be possible she's dyslexic? (Read up if you're unsure, to see it that sounds like her). Year 2/age 7 is a classic age for screening and diagnosis so would be worth enquiring about if you think she has those traits.

So she is an August born - if she was born just one month later, at this point she would be finishing reception and not year 1! Just think about this.

(I have a delayed summer born whom I deferred - he started year R at 5).

By all means go ahead with dyslexia screenings, but it might as well be everything as expected for her age.

So the standard phonics approach works for most children but not all.

If she is scoring 14 then she has some phonics knowledge. From what you say about blending it is quite likely that she can say the sound but then not hold those sounds in her memory to blend them.

There are a number of programs that use non-standard approaches. Toe by toe in one possibility but there are others.

toe-by-toe.co.uk

I was a fluent reader and didn't get phonics. I read by whole word recognition, and got a long way on it. I remember when it clicked for me - it was the long names during Lord of the Rings. I think if I hadn't learnt by whole word, then I'd have got very frustrated and thought reading was too hard for me - instead I was a very keen reader who read several books a week.

When my dc were little I did flashcards and things with them. They loved doing them, so they always thought it was a game.
Why don't you try a little on whole words; what's she like on recognising a word that she's seen before?

I did a lot of games with my dc.
Treasure hunts was a popular one. Put initially single words on pieces of paper and hide them round the house. So "window"; then on the window "table"; under the table "door"... etc. And have a little prize (we used a chocolate coin) at the end.
Also sentences with one word on each stair. Guess where we're going today with clues, shopping lists, pairs games etc.

Also do lots of reading with her. Have her curled up next to you reading the book with you pointing to the words. Subtitles on TV and things like that. Read the back of the cereal packet. Do the reading challenge at the library. Go to the library and choose a book and get an ice cream and let her eat it while you read.

Just make it all fun and don't get frustrated. Let her love what she's doing.

Please don't worry. My son is in year 1 and the school haven't even told us the results. It doesn't matter and was probably the idea of someone who has never taught. A box ticking exercise. When in real life will kids ever need to decode alien words? Never.

This absolutely. DS has always struggled massively with phonics, has dyslexia, now in Year 7. I regret the time we focused on phonics, flashcards, blending. The biggest progress came when we took the pressure off and just shared stories. Whole word reading was successful with him, as was playing games where reading was a part of it. What worked for us, as he become very avoidant of reading, was to read to him with our finger along the line and only get him to read the words we knew he could read. That helped his confidence and meant he was watching the words as we read.

It is not a test. It is a screening check the purpose of which is to identify children who MAY have specific literacy difficulty (assuming that they have studied the complete phonics programme from reception to year 1)

The next step is that the SENCO should be able to do a basic screening and depending on the results of that there is further testing but it is expensive and not many schools pay and tend just to put provision in place assuming they have a difficulty.

The school should continue with the phonics programme and she should be getting additional daily phonics

What phonics scheme do they use at the school?

How is she with cvc words?(consonant, vowel, consonant e.g. cat)
If she can sound out each individual sound in a cvc word but struggle to blend the three sounds, then have you tried to fist blend the last two sounds (at) and then add the first sound? ( c at cat)

Make some fun activities if you want? our favourite was "reading" numberplates my DD couldn't learn phonics but could sight read easily so we practiced making words put of numberplates using phonic sounds

If you dont know which sounds she struggles on then give her a phonics check yourself from the online ones.

What book band is she on?

Could you label home items

So eg

S l i d e. Maybe put a join to the ie sound

Or home etc

Perhapz she is so behind all the sounds havent been covered which would make the result seem worse.

Library oe reading chest subscription over the summer.
It may be the school are hindering in soms way. Ours often donr move kids up and changed to reading books multiple times for dc2 which was annoying!

Well, not alien words exactly but any unfamiliar or made up word they come across will need to decoded phonetically. Harry Potter for example is full of them.

OP, this should mean your daughter gets significant extra help next year to ‘pass’ then, which it sounds like you know she needs. It may be possible she has dyslexia but they can’t screen for that until she’s older. Sounds like you’re doing lots of good work at home, keep it up and try not to worry too much.

https://www.soundfoundations.co.uk/product-category/apples-pears/

I used these in similar circumstances a decade ago, about 20-30mins a day with a reward chart or similar. Worked really well but they were old fashioned even then, I'm not sure if any teachers could recommend an updated version? I think it's kind of extreme pure phonics fo kids struggling eith it, inculding those with dylexia.

As an experienced ks1 teacher I would be meeting the teacher with a score of 14. It's low enough to consider dyslexia.

I would be asking for her to be assessed for dyslexia (don't let them fob you off) and to ask what extra help she will receive in Year 2.

Find out exactly what she's struggling with and ensure you continue to support with the gaps throughout the summer.

If she does have dyslexia then repetition is the best way to help.

Research oral blending games and focus on these through the summer too.

She probably has poor phonological awareness, which is the ability to hear and manipulate the sounds in words. It is an indicator of dyslexia, but some children (about 1 in 4) just take longer to develop the skills.
There are lots of simple activities and games you could play to help her e.g. https://www.nhsborders.scot.nhs.uk/media/669834/Phonological-sound-awareness-advice.pdf
or
https://www.readingrockets.org/literacy-home/reading-101-guide-parents/your-kindergartener/phonological-and-phonemic-awareness

You would want to start with Dancing Bears. Apples and Pears is for older children.