What is phonics?
Phonics is the understanding that there is a predictable relationship between phonemes (the sounds of spoken language) and graphemes (the letters that represent them in written language).
Phonics knowledge and skills are critical for learning to read and write. To be successful readers, students need to learn the code for the English language - the sounds represented by individual letters or different letter combinations - and the skill of blending these sounds together to read words.
For more information and resources, visit the Phonics web page.
Phonics diagnostic assessment
The Phonics diagnostic assessment is a short, on-demand assessment that tells teachers how students are progressing in phonics. The assessment complements existing strategies used to identify students' progress in foundational literacy skills development.
The assessment is conducted by classroom teachers with individual students. Teachers use the online tool to enter student responses. The assessment can be used for any student from Kindergarten onwards.
The assessment allows students to demonstrate what they know and can do and clarifies for teachers their students’ phonic knowledge. Teachers will be able to use the assessment flexibly, by choosing which area of phonic knowledge they will assess, to suit the needs of individual students.
How is Phonics diagnostic assessment different to Phonics Screening Check?
The Year 1 Phonics Screening Check is a mandatory assessment for all Year 1 students from 2021. This assessment uses 40 words to provide teachers with an overview of their student’s progress in phonics. An assessment is lodged for each Year 1 student during an assessment window in Term 3. More information on this assessment is available on the YeYear 1 Phonics Screening Check web page.
The Phonics diagnostic assessment is available on-demand for all students. Students can be re-assessed at any time. The assessment is organised into 4 sets of words which focus on specific phonic knowledge skills:
- VC and CVC words
- consonant digraphs and one-syllable words
- split/vowel digraphs and longer one-syllable words
- multisyllabic and more complex words.
For more information and resources, visit the Phonics diagnostic assessment web page.