PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
YEAR ONE PHONICS CHECK (26 November 2012)

That this House notes the year one phonics screening check was analysed in a recent UK Literacy Association (UKLA) survey by an independent researcher at Sheffield Hallam University; further notes the survey overwhelmingly indicates that in teachers' and headteachers' professional judgment, the phonics screening check for six-year-olds has been costly, time-consuming and unnecessary, and can undermine the assurance of more fluent readers by labelling them as failures; agrees with the UKLA, the teacher unions and other professional associations that checks like this should not be imposed on all children, but used judiciously where a teacher thinks it would help to identify specific needs in a particular child; and calls on the Government to listen to the voice of professionals on this issue and ensure that the phonics screening check is not used in subsequent years for all children in year one, but is instead implemented at teachers' discretion.

Sponsored by:
Ian Mearns (Labour)