Phonics
The phonics screening check is designed to confirm whether pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard. It will identify pupils who need extra help to improve their decoding skills. The check consists of 20 real words and 20 pseudo-words that a pupil reads aloud to the teacher. Pupils in Year 1 (age 5 or 6) must take the phonics screening check. Any Year 2 pupils who did not meet the standard in Year 1 or did not take the check in Year 1 must retake the check in Year 2.
- The average score across the Year 1 Cohort was 37.25 out of 40
Optional KS1 SATs
Key Stage 1 SATs are no longer mandatory. Schools were able to opt-out of receiving test papers in late 2023. Whilst many schools will still receive papers, the DfE will not monitor or moderate the completion of these optional test papers. Therefore, receipt of the papers does not mean schools must complete them.
Simon Balle All-through School has continued to complete these assessments to measure progress, identify strengths and areas of growth for individual students, begin to introduce experiences of ‘formal’ examinations, evaluate school performance and track student progress.
