Key Stage 1 Co-ordinator - Mrs Erica Fortuna

Each September we hold a Key Stage 1 Evening to which all parents and carers of those pupils in the Years 1 and 2 classes are invited. At this meeting form teachers and the Key Stage 1 Co-ordinator give an outline of their role and a presentation to highlight the changes in approach to teaching as well as the challenges of this next stage of each pupil's learning with examples of the work your children will cover.

Our partnership with parents and carers is very important to us. We believe that when parents and carers work together to support a child’s education this has a positive and lasting effect on children’s individual achievements.

The following is a copy of the content of the PowerPoint presentation for parents to refer to or print out as required.

Welcome To Key Stage 1
Transition from Foundation Stage
Building upon the foundation blocks of learning

Year 1
Independence
Organisation of school bag, reading book, homework and letters in the mornings
Helping to set up and clearing away
Getting changed for P.E. and back into uniform
(PLEASE ENSURE EVERY ITEM OF P.E. KIT AND SCHOOL UNIFORM IS CLEARLY NAMED).
Wearing the correct uniform (hats)
Having the confidence to conduct tasks with a degree of independence

Style of Learning 1
Gradually more structured learning and less free play activities
Home corner activities with various themes throughout the year linked with the curriculum
Interactive white board
Sharing resources and toys
Awareness of learning objective
Self assessment

Style of Learning 2
Following two step instructions in a class environment
Multisensory approaches using concrete materials
Application of knowledge to solve problems

Reading 1
Children are heard to read every day in school, but this may not always be their scheme book
Children are expected to be heard to read daily at home
Communication through the reading contact book is essential to track pupil progress
Books will be changed only if it has been stated that the book has been finished

Reading 2
Breadth across a reading level
Discussion of new vocabulary
Understanding of the text, discussion is important
Your child should read aloud
You should give your child your full attention as children can be very good at reading words that are not there!

Spellings and Keywords
Phonic work and keywords are covered regularly in class
Tests will be undertaken on Fridays
Keywords are tested informally for sight recognition

Homework 1
Homework is introduced in January and will be set for the weekend
Homework reflects work covered in class
Support will need to be given to your child as the whole process is very new to them
Let the teacher know if they had particular trouble with a piece of homework through the reading contact book
Concepts are repeatedly revisited in class

Learning Support
Children are stretched or supported as it is needed
Children can be withdrawn from lessons or supported within class depending on the need of the child or concepts covered
Support is given in a sensitive and nurturing way
In Year 1 most of the support is done within class in small groups

Year 2
What is different?
Style of Learning
More structured
Unfortunately less free play!
Greater emphasis on application of knowledge and problem solving
Informal and formal strategies built upon
Moving away from concrete to abstract
Concrete apparatus always supplied to suit different learning styles of the children
Interactive white board, visual learning
Building upon learning blocks from Year 1
Striving for greater independence, (with full guidance), in preparation for Year 3

Reading
Reading Record book is kept separate to the homework/contact diary
Greater emphasis placed on comprehension of text and vocabulary
Books are getting longer at this stage and it is not necessary that the whole book is read in one night. Rather spend more time on discussion and understanding of vocabulary through contextual implication

Homework
Daily homework consolidating learning in class
Differentiated
Homework will be comprised of independent activities and some which require adult support
Homework is not always needed the next day, the children need to listen carefully to these instructions!
Daily supervised reading
Daily revisiting of spellings, keywords and tables
Homework time guideline is 30 minutes
If your child is struggling, please stop after this time and advise the class teacher via the Contact Book.
The main hurdle is your children accepting that homework needs to be done, and just getting used to a routine
Things really do get easier by the end of year!

Homework Diary
Otherwise known as “The Contact Book”
Homework will be written in this book on a daily basis
Any special and brief messages will be communicated through this book from staff and parents (NOT READING RECORD!)
Parents need to initial this daily so that we know that the homework was supervised and that our messages have been read

Spellings and Keywords 2
Spellings (and tables) are set for testing on Fridays
Daily revision helps to keep words in long term memory
Key words are set individually and assessed individually and informally on a weekly basis
Target words for the week are inscribed on the inside cover of the key word book
When your child knows how to spell the written word, it will be ticked in school, and then they can colour in the picture with that word on it

General Information

Handwriting
Our school follows the Joint Exercises for Successful Handwriting scheme
Foundation Stage practices letter shapes and letter pattern direction using rainbow ribbons
Lead ins and some lead outs are introduced in Year 1
The full range of lead outs are continued with in Year 2
Children are encouraged use some joins in their everyday writing by the end of Year 1 and during Year 2 they are encouraged to use the full range of joins all of the time
Often children’s writing becomes untidy as they make the transition from print to joins abd when they are also thinking about the content of their work

How can I support my child with spellings and key words?
A list of key words are printed in the Year 1 and Year 2 Class Handbook
Use look, say, cover, write check
Use plastic letters, white boards, rainbow writing
Point out these words when seen in the environment and reading books etc

Play
Learning through play is so important, and home activities still play a big part in children’s learning
Nursery rhymes are fun, intriguing, historical and are vital in the learning and understanding of rhyming words, language patterns and rhythm
Games like “I Spy” help with initial letter sounds
Alphabet songs help to enforce alphabet sequencing, letter names which have a part in spelling rules
Songs about months of the year, seasons and days of the week help with abstract ideas of time and sequencing
Board games are also essential for helping children to learn number sequences, follow instructions and rules, take turns, solve problems and begin to understand strategy
Jigsaw puzzles help with problem solving, and are an introduction to non verbal reasoning
Talking to your child about things you see gives them new vocabulary and a better understanding of the world around them
Learning is a partnership between school and home, education happens everywhere

How can I help with homework?
Help your child to read the instructions/questions
Check your child’s understanding of the task, give explanations if needed
Go through one or two questions with your child
Let your child complete the work independently
Support them if they get stuck, give more examples if necessary
Inform the class teacher of any difficulty through the homework diary/reading record for Year 1

Your Child’s Safety Is Important To Us
If your child regularly is picked up by anyone other than yourselves, then a letter must be sent to the office advising who your child is to be picked up by and on which days
On the odd occasion when your child goes home with another parent or somebody else, then your permission must be sent in writing through the contact book/reading record (Yr 1) or via the office, otherwise staff will keep your child at school in the crèche facilities. Please give adequate notice for pre arranged activities.
Please advise the school of any appointments PRIOR to the event as this affects lesson content.

Routine
Children need to be alert to do their homework
They need to know when it is homework time and when it is play time
Too many after school activities will tire them out. Please choose wisely!
Children need good quality rest and proper nourishment including breakfast if they are to have the brain power to learn in school

Handbooks, Websites and Newsletters
Overview of the curriculum for each year can be found in the appropriate Year handbook and please refer to this regularly especially at the start of the year
Diary dates and school events are also in the handbooks and website
Updated dates for events and notices are in the bulletin letters (which are sent via e mail) and also are updated on the website

Holidays
Request for holidays in school time has to be made in writing to the Head Teacher
We discourage absence for holidays during term time
Children will miss out on concepts, a lot of work is covered on a daily basis, and over a week, the work they miss is considerable
In case of illness, work will be kept retrospectively for your child to catch up with at home if you wish

Individual and Group Music Lessons
Children are withdrawn from lessons to attend these
Music lessons are available in a wide variety of instruments
Information on these can be obtained from the school office

Sports and Extra Curricular Facilities
In Year 2, children attending crèche will first go to Homework Club for a short while before returning to crèche
The school has a variety of after school clubs which are notified to the parents each term
Our sports clubs are excellent for developing the co-ordination skills of the children which generally facilitates their thinking and processing skills