The Department of Education has announced that all Year One students are to be required to undergo a compulsory phonics check from 2021 to build strong reading foundations in the early years of school.
Minister for Education, Sarah Mitchell said the evidence of phonics effectiveness was undeniable and all Year One NSW public school students would undergo a compulsory phonics check.
“The evidence speaks for itself,” Ms Mitchell said.
“The best results in reading for our students occurs when phonics is explicitly and systematically taught in Year One before moving on to other forms of reading instruction,” she said.
Ms Mitchell said that this year 520 Government primary schools joined a trial of the phonics screening check and 23,975 Year One students participated.
“The results of the trial were immediately available to teachers and aligned with the NSW English syllabus, allowing them to identify gaps in their students’ reading ability quickly,” the Minister said.
“In addition to the instant results, teachers received online professional development to deliver effective reading instruction to students,” she said.
Ms Mitchell said 98 per cent of teachers who participated in the trial found the information it provided about students’ knowledge was beneficial and had an impact on their classroom practice.
She said schools would also be set phonics check targets because phonics was an efficient tool to teach reading, and the check was an effective way to identify gaps in student knowledge.
