Phonics and the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check

At Pear Tree Infant and Nursery School, children take part in daily phonics lessons to support the development of early reading skills.

In the month of June, Year 1 children will take part in the statutory phonics screening check set by the Department for Education. This check helps confirm whether children are working at an age-appropriate standard in early reading. Our teachers and support staff work hard to ensure every child is well-prepared and confident.

What is the phonics screening check?

The phonics screening check is a short, statutory assessment. It is designed to ensure that children are making progress in phonics and are on track to become fluent readers who can enjoy reading for both pleasure and learning.

Who will carry out the screening check?

Your child’s class teacher will carry out the check in June.
Throughout the year, teachers, senior leaders, and support staff regularly provide children with opportunities to practise similar materials so they feel familiar and comfortable with the format.

How can you help your child at home?

You can support your child by:

• Practising the phonics they have learnt to use the phonics mats provided by school
• Reading regularly with your child, including new books and stories
• Encouraging confidence and enjoyment in reading
• What if my child needs extra support?

Your child’s progress in early reading is carefully monitored by their class teacher. If additional support is needed:

• Targeted phonics teaching is provided during the school day
• Your child may be invited to attend an after-school phonics club
• You may be invited to a parent phonics workshop to help you support reading at home

---

Working in partnership

We value you as partners in your child’s education and encourage you to visit the phonics section of the school website to learn more about how we teach reading.

If you have any questions about reading or the phonics screening check, please speak to your child’s class teacher or Mrs B Suddhi, Head Teacher.

How we teach phonics at Pear Tree Infant and Nursery School

At Pear Tree Infant and Nursery School, we take pride in providing all children with rich and engaging early reading opportunities. We deliver high-quality teaching and learning through a validated systematic synthetic phonics programme, Essential Letters and Sounds. This approach ensures that every child develops the skills and confidence needed to become a successful reader.

We provide children with reading books containing decodable and common exception words which allow them to independently use their phonic skills and knowledge. Teachers ensure that children have reading books matched to the sequence of sounds they are currently learning.

Phonics Reading Schemes

To allow children a range of reading texts we offer books from the following phonics reading schemes.

    

Phonics - The Language and Phonemes

At Pear Tree Infant and Nursery School we pride ourselves on building partnerships with parents.  To support Parents and Carers with pre-reading skills, please view the videos below, which will support you in helping your child to become proficient with phonics pronunciation.