The Primary Phonics Check is very straightforward. It should only take 15-20 minutes and can be carried out by a teaching assistant,

or someone that works often with the pupil. Please follow these instructions carefully.

The golden principle for the check is:

·  If a pupil reads or spells the word correctly, observe the effort and fluency involved: did they work really hard?

Did they work slowly? Did they sound out? Did they make a mistake and self-correct? Did they repeat parts of the word,

blending those parts together to get the word eventually?

·  If a pupil gets it wrong, record the above and, most importantly, try to write down their incorrect response

phonetically (or make sure this is recorded clearly in the case of the spelling check).

To carry out the check:

1.  Print off the pupil reading and spelling sheets (pages 4 and 5), onto cream paper.

2.  You may also wish to print off the teacher response sheets (pages 2 and 3), to record the pupil responses as you work with them.

3.  Explain the purpose of the check: encourage the pupil to try their best and not to worry about mistakes: mistakes are cool!

4.  Follow the golden principle! Remember to include important observations.

5.  Please send the check results back to the service electronically via S2S. This means you can either scan your hard copy response

sheets (making sure the referral number is clearly displayed), or transfer the pupil’s responses onto the electronic form

version of these sheets, in order to return them electronically.

Many thanks for taking the time to complete this phonics check!

Referral Ref. No. Reading Response Sheet (for Teacher use: please indicate pupil response where incorrect)

VC / CVC / CCVC / CVCC / Consonant
Digraphs / Vowel
Digraphs
as / cap / grab / fact / bang / main
it / set / step / yelp / fell / need
on / kit / swim / lisp / wish / coat
up / hop / trot / hold / much / coin
at / bud / snub / pump / huff / gate
is / jam / plan / sand / shop / show
an / leg / fled / wept / mess / kite
if / fog / clip / milk / chin / dark
am / tin / twin / cost / moth / hood
in / rub / skip / rusk / sack / tray
Score /10 / /10 / /10 / /10 / /10 / /10

Awareness of general sight vocabulary: please give your observations here:

Referral Ref. No. Spelling Response Sheet (for Teacher use: please indicate pupil response where incorrect)

VC / CVC / CCVC / CVCC / Consonant
Digraphs / Vowel
Digraphs
at / jam / pram / tank / gull / rain
if / web / step / melt / chop / line
on / dig / crib / silk / thin / grow
up / mop / flog / pond / hush / join
in / run / plum / dusk / boss / feet
am / had / trap / ramp / shed / game
it / yes / sped / help / puff / toad
as / lid / snip / list / sang / park
an / fox / drop / loft / lick / food
is / cut / grub / hunt / much / stay
/10 / /10 / /10 / /10 / /10 / /10

Spelling of high frequency words in general, letter or sound confusions: please give your observations here:


Pupil Reading Sheet (Photocopy onto cream paper if necessary)

VC / CVC / CCVC / CVCC / Cons. Digraphs / Vowel Digraphs
as / cap / grab / fact / bang / main
it / set / step / yelp / fell / need
on / kit / swim / lisp / wish / coat
up / hop / trot / hold / much / coin
at / bud / snub / pump / huff / gate
is / jam / plan / sand / shop / show
an / leg / fled / wept / mess / kite
if / fog / clip / milk / chin / dark
am / tin / twin / cost / moth / hood
in / rub / skip / rusk / sack / tray

Referral Ref. No.

Pupil Spelling Sheet (Photocopy onto cream paper if necessary)
VC / CVC / CCVC / CVCC / Cons. Digraphs / Vowel Digraphs

Referral Ref. No.

1