Our Year One children have completed their statutory Phonics Screening and we are very pleased with the results.
The phonics screening check is administered to Year 1 pupils in England to assess their decoding ability using phonics. It involves reading 40 words, both real and pseudo-words, to evaluate their ability to blend and segment sounds. Pupils must reach a threshold score, typically 32 out of 40, to demonstrate they are working at the expected level.
At the start of the year, we were projecting outcomes well below the national average, at around 55-60%. In 2024, the national average for Year 1 pupils meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check was 80%. This was an increase from 79% in 2023. .
We would typically expect to be at or a shade above national average. However, our current Y1 cohort includes a significant number of children with special needs and others who are very new to English or who had entered school in Reception or Y1 considerably behind with their ability to read. Hence the low projections.
The children and staff have worked incredibly hard on this (and everything else, of course) to achieve a pass rate of 77%, which will be close to the national average. We are confident that all children who had a realistic capacity to pass the test at this stage of their development have done so.
A huge well done and thank you to the children, their families for supporting them and the hard-working, talented staff team.