Eng: 'Early phonics achievers three times more likely to ace KS 2 reading test'

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Debbie_Hepplewhite
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Eng: 'Early phonics achievers three times more likely to ace KS 2 reading test'

Post by Debbie_Hepplewhite »

Here is a short piece in SchoolsWeek relaying the statistics linking early phonics achievement (Year One Phonics Screening Check) to later KS 2 statutory reading tests (taken age 10 to 11):

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/early-phonics ... ding-test/

Early phonics achievers three times more likely to ace KS2 reading test

Freddie Whittaker
Pupils who pass the phonics reading screening check on their first attempt are almost three times more likely to meet the “expected standard” in reading at key stage 2, the government has revealed.

New data published by the Department for Education tracked the performance in the SATs reading test of pupils based on when they met the phonics standard.

It shows that almost a third of pupils who fail to reach the expected standard in phonics still go on to reach the expected standard in their key stage 2 reading test, compared with almost 90 per cent of those who pass phonics first time.

The phonics check is first carried out when pupils are in year 1, but those who do not reach the government’s expected standard for the test take it again in year 2.

Data released today shows that 88 per cent of those pupils who reached the expected standard in phonics in year 1 went on to reach the expected standard in their KS2 reading test.

Only 62 per cent of those who reached the expected phonics standard in year 2 went on to meet the expected standard at key stage 2, and just 30 per cent of pupils who didn’t reach the phonics standard by the end of year 2 reached the expected level at KS2.

This year, 82 per cent of pupils met the expected standard in phonics in year 1, and 92 per cent had reached it by the end of year 2.
It makes plenty of sense, then, for teachers to improve their proficiency at teaching phonics to beginners!
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Debbie_Hepplewhite
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Re: Eng: 'Early phonics achievers three times more likely to ace KS 2 reading test'

Post by Debbie_Hepplewhite »

Here is more reporting, in The Telegraph, about rising standards by the end of Key Stage 2 in England:

Gap between wealthy and poor pupils closing in wake of Michael Gove's primary school reforms
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/1 ... g_share_tw
The gap, measured using the government's disadvantage gap index, has shrunk by 13 per cent since 2011 and 3 per cent in the last year, the biggest change since 2012.

Sir Anthony Seldon, vice chancellor of Buckingham University and former master of Wellington College, said the figures were a “genuine cause for celebration” and the result of greater academic rigour in primary schools
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Debbie_Hepplewhite
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Re: Eng: 'Early phonics achievers three times more likely to ace KS 2 reading test'

Post by Debbie_Hepplewhite »

I've expressed grave worries in the past about some of the resources and articles from The Driver Youth Trust - but Karen Wespieser is giving every impression of making a great contribution to this organisation. See this piece in SchoolsWeek:
How can primaries offer a broad curriculum and still get literacy right?

KAREN WESPIESER

Director of operations, Driver Youth Trust
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/how-can-prima ... acy-right/
...Overall the data shows that the 25 indicators in the model can be boiled down into two main factors – intent and implementation – but it is the detail of the intent that pleased me, namely indicator 2c: “reading is prioritised to allow pupils to access the full curriculum offer”.

This is a fact that, while seeming self-evident, is all too often missed. You can have the most broad and balanced curriculum in the world, but if you can’t read, you can’t access it. So, while it is undoubtedly important to have a broad curriculum, it is vital to get the basics right too.
Do read the whole piece - it's short and to the point.
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