Assistant Principals' Report

Hello and welcome to our newsletter item for this week.

Year 1 Phonics Check 

The Year 1 Phonics Check is a mandatory, short screening assessment that informs teachers about how a student is progressing with phonics. It is a one-on-one assessment conducted by a teacher with a Year 1 student, across Weeks 4-6 in Term 3.

The assessment is aligned with the Phonics Plus scope and sequence which is used across Foundation to Year 2 at Heidelberg Primary School. It involves a student reading aloud words. These words are a mix of real and non-words. Non-words are an important part of the assessment as they are words that students have not seen before. Non-words require students to apply their phonics knowledge to decode, rather than relying on their sight memory or vocabulary.

It can identify students that may need phonics-based early intervention, as well as other student and cohort level decoding strengths and instructional needs. 

The Phonics Check has been completed on all Year 1 students who were present during the assessment period earlier this term.

Year 1 Numeracy Check 

This year, Heidelberg Primary School were given the opportunity to trial the Year 1 Numeracy Check. This will be a mandatory assessment for all Year 1 students as of 2027.

The Year 1 Numeracy Check is a screening tool that:

• teachers can administer quickly in typical classroom settings
• focuses on key numeracy skills that enable successful mathematics learning
• provides insights into students’ accuracy and fluency

Our Year 1 teachers will begin conducting the Numeracy Check with our students over the next couple of weeks. 

Both the Literacy and Numeracy Check are valuable tools that assist teachers to identify student needs and trends across the cohort, create learning goals and support planning for future instruction. The data sets can also provide us with results to analyse the impact and effectiveness of our teaching and learning programs at Heidelberg Primary School over time. 

For information regarding supporting your child with their literacy and numeracy development from home, please click here: 

Please also enjoy some photos of  text responses to Dear Broccoli by Jo Dabrowski and illustrated by Cate James, a popular shortlisted picture book for the 2026 CBCA Children's Book Week!

Have a great weekend and week ahead.

Warm Regards,

Helen Thomas & Monique Rankin

Assistant Principals

Heidelberg Primary School