SA’s Year 1 students make big gains in phonics screening check

Young students are performing better in checks to test their early reading skills but almost half are still failing to reach expected benchmarks.

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Students have recorded significantly better results in this year’s early reading check, but despite the gains barely half achieved the expected standard.

Nearly 14,000 Year 1s in public schools across the state had the 40-word “phonics screening check”, conducted one-on-one with their teachers, in August.

(See below for the full word list).

As children know some real words by memory, half of them are fake words in order to test their ability to “decode” them by blending letters into sounds.

The expected standard is decoding 28 words. After a trial in 2017, the assessment was rolled out statewide last year, meaning this year’s results allow a year-on-year comparison for the first time.

While results have improved many are still catching up. Picture: Istock

Statewide, 52 per cent of children met the standard, up from 43 per cent last year.

Results also rose for Aboriginal students (24 per cent, up from 21) and for students with verified disabilities (20 per cent, up from 14).

And children from non English-speaking backgrounds (54 per cent, up from 48) again outperformed the general population. Across the state, 432 Year 1s, or 3 per cent, could not decode any words, down from 566 (4 per cent) last year.

Education Minister John Gardner said the results were encouraging but there was still “much more work to be done”.

“The improvement in this year’s results is a reflection of our schools’ commitment to lifting literacy outcomes, and we are equipping them with the right support and materials,” he said.

As well as the disturbing gap between indigenous and non-indigenous students, there were also great divides between city and country kids, and between advantaged and disadvantaged schools.

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In metro schools, 54 per cent of met the standard (up 9 per cent) compared to 46 from regional schools (up 10 per cent). In the most advantaged schools, 63 per cent achieved the standard (up 8 per cent), while 24 per cent did in the lowest socioeconomic communities (up 6 per cent).

Mr Gardner said the phonics check was a “useful tool” that had put “a fresh emphasis on the quality of reading instruction”.

“Importantly, these results provide teachers with a useful picture of where individual students are at in the fundamental aspect of reading, so they can implement the right support for those who are struggling with decoding blended letters into sounds.”

The phonics check rollout had bipartisan support at last year’s state election after Labor instigated the initial trial.

Phonics check words

FAKE: fot, keb, gan, ulp, poth, shan, veen, quorg, drap, flarm, lect, voisk, quigh, herks, jorb, zale, bluns, skarld, splot, strabe

REAL: thin, peck, torn, cheek, trap, snarl, milk, moist, toy, spike, fuel, name, props, spoilt, scram, strike, panic, second, tantrum, reaching