KS1 Autumn 2 Blog and Checklist

From assessment to action: making phonics data count

by Emma Woodward, Hub Lead

Every half-term, approximately every six weeks, we assess pupils’ phonic knowledge. But what happens afterwards? Assessment should lead to precise teaching, targeted practice and checks that gaps are closing.

Look beyond the score or percentage. Identify whether pupils need support with sound recall, blending, accurate word reading or automaticity. The Reading Framework highlights individual records that pinpoint gaps, alongside ongoing assessment that informs immediate adjustments during lessons.

Build a picture of the whole child. Combine results with classroom observations, listening to reading and conversations with families and the SENCo. Consider language, attendance, confidence, previous teaching and speech, hearing or vision needs. Understanding these factors helps us identify barriers and make teaching accessible and adaptable while maintaining high expectations.

Use your SSP guidance to respond. Programmes may recommend revisiting particular sounds, providing additional blending practice, reviewing teaching groups or adjusting book matching. Where your SSP specifies 70% class-security, follow its guidance to pause and reteach insecure learning. This will benefit the whole class in the longer-term.

Provide smaller steps, not different steps. Retain your programme’s sequence, routines and language, with more modelling, supported practice and repetition. The EEF’s evidence review on phonics recommends matching teaching to pupils’ current knowledge and using regular assessment to identify when additional support is needed.

Check that intervention works. Review keep-up support every two to three weeks, depending on your SSP guidance, alongside daily checks. For example, Little Wandle recommends reassessing Daily Keep-up pupils after three weeks to evaluate progress and ensure books remain closely matched. Check that pupils retain and apply their learning; if gaps persist, review the teaching response promptly.

After every assessment, ask: What does this child need next? What will we change? How will we know it has worked?

Build fluency through matched books. Decodable books give pupils opportunities to apply their phonic knowledge and develop increasingly automatic word reading. Match books closely to secure sound and word knowledge, and follow your SSP’s reading routines, including repeated reading. The Reading Framework highlights rereading as a way to develop fluency, helping pupils read accurately and effortlessly so they can focus on meaning.