Phonics screening check results have dipped and the programme is no longer taught the same way in every class
Fewer children are meeting the standard in the phonics screening check, and each class now teaches the programme in its own way.
Results in the phonics screening check have fallen, and when you look closely the programme is no longer taught the same way in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. Some adults have adapted the lesson structure, some groups have slipped behind the expected pace, and the children who most need extra practice are not always getting it. Nobody set out to drift. Small changes, each made for a reason, have added up.
Presenting symptoms
- Phonics lessons at the same stage of the programme follow different structures, timings or resources in different rooms.
- Some groups have fallen behind the programme’s expected pace, and children are not regrouped after assessment.
- Keep-up sessions for children who are falling behind happen on some days and are dropped on others.
Possible causes
- Adults who joined since the programme was introduced, including teaching assistants and cover staff, may never have had the full training.
- Staff may have adapted the programme in good faith because they believe their change helps their children.
- Nobody may be looking regularly at what phonics teaching is like in each room, so drift goes unseen until the results arrive.
- Assessment may not be used often enough to regroup children and target extra practice where it is needed.
Some adults teaching phonics have never been fully trained in the programme.
Your most useful next step: List every adult who teaches a phonics group or a keep-up session, including teaching assistants and cover staff, and arrange the programme’s training for each one before the end of this half term. Give each of them a one-page outline of the lesson structure to teach from.
Lead behaviours
Staff have changed the programme because they think their changes help.
Your most useful next step: Watch one changed lesson with your phonics lead, ask the adult what the change was meant to achieve, then explain why the programme is taught as written and agree what is theirs to decide and what is not.
Lead behaviours
Teaching is broadly consistent, but children who fall behind are not caught quickly.
Your most useful next step: Use the most recent assessment to name the children who are behind the programme’s pace, and timetable a daily keep-up session for them with a named adult, protected from being cancelled.
Lead behaviours
You do not yet know what phonics looks like in each class.
Your most useful next step: Spend ten minutes in every phonics session across one week, using the same short list of look-fors each time, before you decide what to change.
Lead behaviours
Core behaviours
Phonics depends on children meeting the same routines, language and actions in every room and every year. When each adult teaches it slightly differently, the children who find reading hardest are the ones who lose most.
A phonics lesson is a routine, and routines only hold when they are shown, practised and returned to. New adults need to see the lesson taught well before they are asked to teach it.
A dip in results is a signal, not an explanation. Look honestly at what is happening in each room before deciding whether the problem is training, pace, keep-up support or something else.
Training once is not the same as teaching it well all year. Agree in advance when you and your phonics lead will look at each group again, so checking feels normal rather than a sign that something is wrong.
Secondary behaviours
Use this when staff have adapted the programme. Adults who understand why each part of the lesson is there are far less likely to change it, and far better at spotting when a child needs something different.
Use this for the children who are falling behind. The aim is a floor that every child reaches, with quick, daily practice for those who need it rather than a wait until the next assessment.
Use this to see phonics as it is taught, not as it is planned. Short, regular visits to every group tell you more than a single formal observation.
Use this to keep the lesson structure and the look-fors simple and shared. A short checklist helps a new teaching assistant, a supply teacher and your phonics lead see the same lesson.
A useful first action
This week, watch the same point in the programme being taught in two different classes, with your phonics lead beside you. Write down every difference you see, and agree together which ones matter for children’s reading.
Suggested approach
- Visit every phonics group across one week with a short, shared list of look-fors, and note what is the same and what differs.
- Check who has been fully trained in the programme, including teaching assistants and cover staff, and close the gaps first.
- Explain why each part of the lesson is there, and agree what adults may adapt and what stays as written.
- Use assessment to regroup children and set up daily keep-up sessions with named adults that are protected from cancellation.
- Agree the dates when you and your phonics lead will look at each group again, and keep them through the year.