Hello and welcome to Elm class. We are a mixed year 1 and 2 class who love to ‘Learn, Achieve and Shine’ every single day. Learning is fun in our class along with different continuous provision opportunities, in order to develop us and create memorable moments for your children.
We will provide your children with a range of experiences that will enable them to become creative and critical thinkers. We believe all children should aim to be enthusiastic and have a positive attitude towards their learning to live ‘Life in all its Fullness’. This allows them to create valuable relationships with their peers and also staff. We believe it is important to build opportunities within the curriculum to allow children to become resilient to challenges that they may face within their learning and everyday life.
We regularly reflect on our Christian values throughout all aspects of our curriculum especially within collective worship time. We strive for every child to become the best that they can be and be ready, be respectful and be safe.
We have lots of exciting themes planned for this year including various trips and visitors to enhance our curriculum and make it come alive.
Mrs Holliday (teacher), Miss Lockwood (teacher), Mrs Bethwaite and Mrs Nicholson (teaching assistants)
Year 1 Phonics Screen Check information for Parents
What is the Phonics Screening Check?
The Phonics Screening Check 2023 (or Phonics Screening Test) is a test to assess and show how well your child can use and apply the phonics skills that they’ve learnt up to the end of Year 1. It takes place every year. The Phonics Screening Check is also an opportunity for teachers to identify students who need further support with their phonics.
In simple terms, a Phonics Screening Check is designed to check whether pupils have a good understanding of what they have learnt in phonics so far.
Every child in Year 1 in England has to take the Phonics Screening Check. The child takes the test during a one-to-one sitting with a teacher.
When is the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check in 2023?
This year’s Phonics Screening Check will take place in the week beginning Monday 12th June.
How does the Phonics Screening Check work?
The Phonics Screening Check is defined by the DfE as “short, light-touch assessments.” During the Phonics Screening Check, children are asked to read (i.e. decode) 40 words. Most of these words are real words, but some are also pseudo-words. A pseudo-word is a fake (alien) word that features strings of letters that resemble real words.
The test is divided into two sections. In section one, children are asked to recognise simple word structures and Grapheme-Phoneme Correspondences (GPCs) from the earlier phases of the phonics curriculum.
Section two of the Phonics Screening Check is a bit trickier. Here, children need to recognise GPCs from later stages of the phonics curriculum. They will also be exposed to graphemes that correspond to more than one phoneme and they will need to decode them.
There isn’t a time limit for the Phonics Screening Check, but it usually takes around eight to ten minutes.
Most children pass their Phonics Screening Tests. If a child doesn’t pass and doesn’t meet the expected standard, they will be given the appropriate support with their phonics to help them eventually reach the expected standard. They will then re-take the Phonics Screening Check the following year.
How can you help at home?
Help your child to use ‘Special Friends’, ‘Fred Talk’ to read words.
Practise reading sounds speedily.
Watch the Virtual Classroom films together.
Listen to your child read their Storybook every day.
How do I use the Virtual Classroom?
Set aside 10 minutes to watch a film with your child each day.
Find a quiet space for your child to watch the film on a laptop or tablet.
Praise your child as they join in with the lesson – make it fun!
Find more free parent resources on www.ruthmiskin.com
KS1 SATS information for parents
At the end of Year 2, children will take SATs to evaluate their progress as they move into KS2.
What are Year 2 SATs?
SATs is an acronym for Standard Assessment Tests. Year 2 SATs are statutory in the UK nationwide, and serve as a marker to evaluate how well children are learning and retaining the information taught in KS1 before they progress into KS2.
The results of these tests, taken before the summer holidays, are an indicator, to both teachers and parents, of which areas each child excels in and which areas they require further support in.
The SAT Assessment
At the end of Year 2, children will take assessments in:
The Reading Test consists of two separate papers:
• Paper 1 – consists of a combined reading prompt and answer booklet. The paper includes a list of useful words and some practice questions for teachers to use to introduce the contexts and question types to pupils. The test takes approximately 30 minutes to complete, but is not strictly timed.
• Paper 2 – consists of an answer booklet and a separate reading booklet. There are no practice questions on this paper. Teachers can use their discretion to stop the test early if a pupil is struggling. The test takes approximately 40 minutes to complete, but is not strictly timed.
The texts will cover a range of poetry, fiction and non-fiction.
Children will sit two tests: Paper 1 and Paper 2:
• Paper 1: Arithmetic - lasts approximately 20 minutes (but this is not strictly timed). It covers calculation methods for all operations.
• Paper 2: Reasoning - lasts for approximately 35 minutes, which includes time for five oral questions.
Pupils will still require calculation skills and questions will be varied including multiple choice, matching, true/false, completing a chart or table or drawing a shape. Some questions will also require children to show or explain their working out.
For some children, we may also decide to administer the optional English: Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling SAT assessment in order to inform teacher-assessed level in Writing.
When are the SATs?
All assessment are due to take place in May this year.
How can parents help?
Firstly, support and reassure your child that there is nothing to worry about and that they should always just try their best. Praise and encourage!
• Ensure your child has the best possible attendance at school.
• Support your child with any homework tasks.
• Reading, spelling and arithmetic (e.g. times tables) are always good to practise.
• Talk to your child about what they have learnt at school and what book(s) they are reading (the character, the plot, their opinion).
• Make sure your child has a good sleep and healthy breakfast every day!
