Hello all and Welcome to Key Stage One

Key Stage One is a wonderful time for our children as they continue to develop their love of learning that started in the EYFS. This stage focuses on nurturing their curiosity and creativity, while building essential skills in reading, writing, and mathematics. Our dedicated team is committed to providing an engaging and stimulating environment where each child can thrive and flourish.

We pride ourselves on our happy ethos at our school, fostering a warm and inclusive atmosphere where everyone feels valued and respected. Our aim is to nurture not only academic skills but also the social and emotional development of your children. We believe that a positive mindset is key to successful learning, and we encourage all our students to be confident, resilient, and eager to take on new challenges.

Throughout Key Stage One, there will be opportunities for your child to explore their interests, whether through hands-on learning, trips or visits, or themed days, such as a Great Fire of London Day, where we celebrate and immerse the children in their learning.

Throughout the year we will keep you updated with newsletters and communication regarding important dates and events.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to talk to your class teacher or make an appointment at the office to talk through anything further with the team leader.

We value your partnership and look forward to working together to ensure a successful and enjoyable Key Stage One experience for your child.

Teaching and Learning

We have 3 classes in Key Stage One.

Year 1

Year 1 and 2 mixed

Year 2

All the children have access to daily phonics or spelling, English and Maths and the foundation subjects, PE, Art, DT, Science Geography, History, RE and PSHE are taught in the afternoons. We work on a 2-year planning cycle.

We have a mixture of teacher led learning, small group work and active hands-on learning, that we call learning jobs. The children build on their experience of continuous provision in the Early Years and apply this to subject specific learning jobs within the classroom, where they can continue to build their independence and love of learning.

Year One have a phonics screening check in the Summer Term. You will receive more information regarding this at the time of the check. Any children who do not pass the screening check in Year One will retake it in the summer term of Year 2.

SeeSaw

We use Seesaw, an online learning journey, to record children’s active and hands-on learning. You will receive a QR code at the start of the year so that you can login and view your child’s learning at home. You can also engage with us by liking the pictures or leaving positive comments.  For any written work we have subject specific books.

Typical Routine of the Day

8:50- Register

9-9:30 Worship

9:30 Phonics/Spelling

10-10:20 Play time

10:20-12 English and Maths

12:00-12:45 Lunchtime

12:45-1:00 Story/Song time

1:00 Reading Practise

2 -2:15 Playtime

1:30-3:20 Foundation Subjects

PE

Your child will have one indoor and one outdoor PE session a week. The focus in these PE lessons change termly/ half termly as do the hall and outdoor slots. We encourage pupils to bring in a PE kit with suitable trainers at the beginning of the half term and keep this in school so it is available for their PE lessons. This can be taken home each half term to be washed. PE kits are not to be worn as school uniform, we expect pupils to change into their kit for their lesson and change back into their uniform after the lesson. 

At the start of Key Stage One, our year 1 children may gradually ease into changing for PE and build this up as the term progresses, as this is a skill that takes some practise.

Please encourage your child to become independent at home when getting changed and looking after their clothes, so that they can become more confident with this skill at school.

Homework and Supporting Your Child At Home

Reading

In Years 1/2 homework is primarily focused on reading. Your child will receive a reading book on a Tuesday each week to practise at home. They will have read this book in school with their teacher and by practising the same book at home, they will develop their fluency and confidence. This book must be in school everyday in your child’s bookbag and then will be collected on a Friday.

We use the Little Wandle Revised Letters and Sounds programme for teaching phonics. They have lots of resources for parents on the website such as videos and tips of how to pronounce the sounds correctly as well as guidance for parents. Please click on the link below to access the site and click on the ‘For Parents’ tab:

https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/

Reading for Pleasure

Each week your child will visit the school library and choose a reading for pleasure book, to be read and shared by an adult over the weekend. We want to ensure that as well as practising the skill of reading children build their love and pleasure of reading. 

Spelling

Each week your child will receive a set of spellings to practise. Please support your child in reading and learning the spellings as well as writing them. It does not have to be written in the book, in the front cover there are suggestion of some fun ways to practise the spelling words, such as writing them in sand or in rainbow colours.

Numbots

Your child will receive a Numbots Login where they can play lots of different maths games to practise their fluency, number bonds, counting and more.

Useful Links

Please find some useful websites for you and your child

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/

https://numbots.com/

https://seesaw.com/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/articles/zn2n92p

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/

Behaviour and Relationships Policy

Our policy is centred around three simple statements which support a whole school consistent approach. 

• Be ready
• Be respectful
• Be safe

These apply to pupils, parents, staff and governors.

Recognition and rewards to celebrate:

• House point system: There will be four houses and pupils will earn points for their house by showing they can be ready, respectful and safe.
• Recognition board: Each classroom will have a recognition board. On the board will be a specific class goal to support meeting the agreed expectations. If a child is recognised for working towards the class goal, their name will be placed on the board. The class goal will be changed regularly.
• Postcard home: Children who are working above and beyond in meeting the agreed expectations will receive a postcard sent by a member of staff.
• Headteachers weekly celebration assembly. A child from each class will be selected to be recognised and be awarded a certificate detailing how they have worked towards the agreed expectations.

Boundaries and response:  ‘Behaviour is a form of communication’

• We will have clear boundaries and expectations around behaviour.
• We are aiming for an empathetic and restorative approach. This will give children time to think and reflect.

 

Attendance

School starts at 8:50am and finishes at 3:20pm

Regular school attendance brings enormous benefits to individual pupils, their families, schools and the community as a whole. Without regular attendance, levels of attainment suffer and opportunities are missed to obtain maximum benefit from education. It's not just the academic learning that is impacted on, self esteem, sense of belonging can be impacted. Poor attendance impacts on all children whatever their age. Persistent absence and lateness will affect a child‛s achievement and progress in school. It is important to set the expectation of good attendance right from the beginning of school so children grow up with ‘good habits‛. If your child is absent from school you must inform the school, by telephone, e-mail or by School Spider, giving a reason for the absence.