Olive Blackburn in Top 3% Nationally for Phonics

We are celebrating after the school was named among the top three per cent of primary schools in England for performance in phonics tests.

All of our pupils, who took the latest Year 1 phonics screening test, reached or exceeded the pass mark – an “outstanding achievement” according to Minister of State for School Standards, Nick Gibb.

In a letter congratulating us on our pupils’ achievement, Mr Gibb MP wrote:

“Your success in teaching phonics means your pupils are developing a firm foundation in reading, from which they can become increasingly fluent and develop a lifelong love of reading.”

Phonic decoding is one of the most widely recognised and successful approaches to teaching young children to read. The national phonics screening check is a short assessment of pupils’ phonics skills at the end of Year 1.

Our phonics result vastly exceeds the national average in the 2018 test, where just over 81% of children met expected standards in phonics decoding.

Principal Julie Bradley said:

“It’s incredibly satisfying that all our Year 1 pupils achieved or exceeded the pass mark in the 2018 phonics screening check. This demonstrates the high expectations that we have at The Olive School and our relentless drive to ensure that all children achieve the very highest standards.

“Whilst it is fantastic to see children doing so well in securing these early reading skills, we are also determined to instill in them a love of reading and we thank our parents for working with us to achieve this.”

Pupils learning to read at our school, which has been named in the top three per cent of primary schools in England for performance in phonics tests

Added By: Star Academies | Date Added: 27th Nov 2018 | Posted In: Latest News