SSP Chant Strips

The Phonics Screening Check should be easy for at least 95% of children to pass before they enter Year 1. Learning GPCs and blending relies on phonemic awareness skills, but when going from print to speech, it does not require much figuring out. It is mathematical: if s = /s/, a = /æ/, and t = /t/, then the word is always sat. Nothing else.

This approach works well when using only the 100 or so Core Phonics Code GPCs, and only with words that can be decoded using that code. So a Phonics Screening Check based on that content should be simple.

Why is this part not taught more quickly? You cannot figure out the rest of the Code when graphemes represent multiple sounds, and sounds can be represented by multiple graphemes, without a lot more work. That is the part we need to get to as soon as possible.

That is where MyWordz® with MySpeekie® comes in. It shows children the whole code. And spelling (speech to print) has a huge impact on decoding. Synthetic phonics primarily focuses on decoding (print to speech). It is frustrating to watch how much is missing, especially for the 1 in 4 who will not learn to read even if they can pass the PSC.

 

Parents of children in Reception: try this at home

Use the Monster Spelling Piano app to build your child’s phonemic awareness and help them learn the Core Code quickly and with confidence. Your child is likely to pass the Phonics Screening Check more easily than by relying on the synthetic phonics taught in most KS1 classrooms in England. Also use MySpeekie® at home to explore any word, check pronunciation, and enjoy mapped books that make the connection between speech and print fully visible.