Phonics Check

Today for the first time I have had to administer a phonics check to all my year 1 children. Throughout the year I have done plenty of checks on their progress in reading and their phonic knowledge. The assessments I use do not continue if the child is beginning to struggle. They are linked to the different phonic phases so I know exactly where each child is working and what their next steps are. For some year 1 children I focus on comprehension and use running records to establish their reading strengths and weaknesses.

The check the children sat through today contained nonsense words for the first 3 pages. The children tried to make sense of what they were faced with and tried to apply their skills, out of context, in the head teachers office. I felt incredibly guilty administering this as the rest of my class were completing some creative writing which could have been hugely improved with the support of their teacher.

For the children involved in the check they were clearly finding the whole experience slightly strange and for others it was probably far worse as they probably came away feeling like they really didn't understand what they had just had to do.  My hope is that as it was 10 minutes at most per child they will hopefully have forgotten about it and just put it down to one of those strange things teachers sometimes do.

Now my aim is to ensure that today was not a complete waste of time. I shall look at all the words, place them in the correct phonics phase, analyse the children's incorrect responses and look at the strategies they used to try to make sense of what they were reading. Most importantly I will carry on teaching the children to read, to make sense of what they read and develop a love of books. Reading should be a pleasure it should be something we do to extract meaning and should provide us with enjoyment. I have interventions in place to help the children who are struggling with the complex skill of reading and will continue to support those children. I just hope this check hasn't damaged their self esteem and undone all that we have been doing all year.