Phonics Monitoring Visits
Good Morning,
Local Authorities are required to make unannounced monitoring visits to 10% of schools which administer the phonics checks.
Some of these visits will take place week beginning Monday 1 June and some week beginning Monday 15 June 26 but most of the visits will take place during the week of the phonic checks.
In Oxfordshire, phonics monitoring visits are completed by Oxfordshire EY Lead Advisory Teachers.
In 2026, these visits will be conducted by:
- Karen Locke
- Victoria Sayer
- Sharon Hunt
- Sarah Pugh
- Merryn Polley
- Michelle Jenkins
Please could you inform your office staff in case you receive a visit.
All monitoring visitors will have photo identification as required in the Phonics screening check monitoring visits guidance.
Year 1 colleagues should receive training on how to administer the check, including experienced colleagues. Particularly, please ensure that they are aware that:
- once the check has started, administrators are NOT allowed to remind pupils to blend the phonemes
- where pupils need rest breaks, they should be kept separate from the rest of the cohort until they have completed the check
Finally, please consider how you will know that checks are being administered appropriately. I recommend that a senior leader is present for the first few checks and where inexperienced teachers are administering, leaders may wish to revisit regularly throughout the check window.
Please email Jane Downes, the moderation manager, on jane.downes@junipereducation.org with any questions. If your school receives a monitoring visit, the monitoring visitor will also provide my contact details. In the unlikely event that there are any discrepancies, I will call you to explain next steps.
I hope that your phonic checks run smoothly and that your pupils receive the outcomes they deserve.
Kind Regards,
Jane Downes
Moderation Manager