100% success in screening check

Every Year 1 pupil at Fielding, irrespective of their background or starting point, has successfully passed the Government's phonics screening check this year as a result of highly effective teaching and support for individual pupils.  Moreover, 80% of our pupils gained a score of at least 37 marks out of 40.  The threshold pass mark was 32.

Nationally every June, hundreds of thousands of five and six year old children in Year 1 take the phonics screening check - reading aloud a list of 40 words, which is marked by their teacher.  The check is a list of 40 words; 20 of them are real, 20 are nonsense words, such as "quass".  Nonsense words are denoted with a monster to make it clear to children that they are the monster’s "names".  These are included to show that children are using their knowledge of letters and sounds and have not merely memorised words.  Pupils apply their knowledge of letters and sounds to decode and read the words aloud.  Last year, 97% of our pupils met the required standard compared to 81% of pupils nationally.

Success at Year 1 in the phonics screening check is important to us because it helps our pupils to read fluently by the start of Year 2, providing a secure base to reach the higher standard of reading by the end of Year 2.

Highly effective teaching by all adults working in Year 1 has included daily teaching of phonics, identifying letter sounds which pupils find hardest to learn and providing support to individual pupils and their parents.  During Reception and Fielding Nursery, pupils are introduced to letters and sounds which provides an excellent foundation for the start of their learning in Year 1.

In Year 2, four out of five pupils who had to re-take the test because they missed the test or did not reach the pass mark at the end of Year 1 last year, also successfully passed the test this year.  These pupils have benefited from a programme of support during Year 2 to enable them to catch-up with their peers.