Fed up year 1 teacher

[M2B91]

Hi all,
Anyone else worried about their year 1 phonics screening?
I was given a class this year where 13 children got their GLD from reception (not sure if anyone else in year 1 was in a similar position in September due to covid!? Our other year 1 class wasn’t as low.)I have 15 pupil premium. 7 SEN children and 5 EAL children who are unable to speak or write in full sentences. I did a phonics screening baseline in September and half the class scored 0/40! So I knew it was going to be a tough year. I was also promised extra support to pass phonics screening which has only just been given to me recently for an hour a day for specific children.
I’ve had some absence due to being pregnant but otherwise, along with my TA have tried so hard to move the children on. Our recent phonics assessment shows that 10 children still will not pass (these children along with around 5 others in the class do not read at home!)
I’ve shared my worries with senior management and their answer - it’s probably due to staff absence (meaning me!), maybe you should do an early morning catch up group( struggling to get through the days at the moment as it is) and also - are you delivering quality first teaching?
I think my frustration is because I see many other classes having adult support thrown at them and although I’ve stressed from the beginning of the year how behind my class are I seem to get nowhere with extra support. It especially frustrates me as our pupil premium budget covers TA wages and my class has the highest number of pupil premium in the school yet I have the least support.
In general I’m so pleased with the progress most children have made, however I know that 1/3 of my class not passing the phonics screening will look bad data wise and I have this horrible feeling senior management will put that down to my absence due to pregnancy 😢! I guess I’m just on here to vent really and to see if any other year 1 classes are looking at the same pass rate for their phonics screening?

We are doing better than you...but we are still poor and far from where we normally are.....surely they will cut you slack cos of Covid and Lockdown. Reading is a key focus along with a high quality phonics programme. We have just started Little Wandle introducing a new scheme at this stage is a bit late tho' . I have found myself in this Year group after LKS 2 and I am shocked at the poor reading ability somewhat perceived as a norm....Your school sounds very blaming...

Our school has no real, consistent programme. Our English lead believes that a mixture of different phonics programmes is the best way forward. Children learn jolly phonics in reception and we then follow a mixture of read, write inc and letters and sounds in year 1. I get confused - let alone the children! We used to have phonics grouping but now I teach the whole class phonics altogether and to be honest I’m struggling to meet all their needs! I have some children that are still struggling with half of the phase 3 sounds and some that are ready to move onto phase 6 and are bored!
When I expressed this to my literacy lead she said a good teacher provides quality first teaching and should still be able to meet all those needs in 1 phonics lesson 😢. The school is very blaming. I personally feel management at our school is poor so to cover their backs the blame is pushed onto the teachers. I love my class and want them to do well but so tempted to go off with stress as I’m never given the correct support just blamed all the time! It’s not healthy to feel this way at all let alone when pregnant.
I do hope I’ll be cut some slack due to the pandemic but due to numerous comments made about my absence I’m pretty sure that’s where the blame will lie!

You sound like such a caring teacher and it’s not okay that you are under such awful stress. We are all under pressure in school but your situation sounds particularly difficult. I’m a Year 2 teacher and Reading Lead so completely get those hard it is.

The new Reading Framework clearly states that schools must show fidelity to one SSP and thats what your SLT should have implemented. We’ve gone with RWI and it’s not perfect but I think it will definitely improve phonics and reading especially after covid. If your English Lead introduced a structured SSP it could really help you and the children. There are loads of options now validated by the DfE.

I hope things get better as it’s not fair on you or the children. Just remember that you are doing your absolute best and it’s not your fault that you have an incompetent and unsupportive SLT.

Wow, how on Earth does your English lead plan on justifying the mixed schemes to Ofsted?! That's really tough.

The move from steaming to whole class phonics is tough but the idea is to keep the class together more - keep up not catch up. If your phase 3s never get exposure to phase 5 with the others, the gap between those who can and those who struggle will only get bigger as they move through the school. However, you do then need to have intervention groups running alongside your whole class phonics to try to plug those gaps.

With your ones ready for phase 6, be wary off pushing them on too quickly. Phase 5 is massive and I don't find there are many who are able to apply all those rules to their writing, even if they can read those words. Knowing which ai sound to apply for example is really tricky so make sure they're writing everything that you're teaching and that they can apply it in writing independently.

Mixing schemes? What kind of set up is this? You and the children have been set up to fail. This is not your fault, at all. I’d be looking for another school!

Definitely agree about the fidelity side. We had OFSTED earlier this year and that was a key element, from Reception right through to KS2 intervention- all using the same scheme, same resources, same " patter" even the same wall displays! Your phonics lead will get slammed!