Key Stage 1 covers Years 1 and 2 in school. Building on the skills already learned in the Early Years, the children develop in maturity and begin to experience more formal methods of recording their ideas.
Using the English National Curriculum as a guide and implementing a skills-based approach, teachers and children work together to develop cultural, social and academic understanding.
We aim to teach in a creative and cross curricular method wherever possible. This means that children will be able to connect the subject areas by use of ‘topics’ or ‘themes’. For example, learning about ‘Transport’ will involve reading stories, discussing characters and settings, examining wheel mechanisms, learning about the history of transport and simple map reading. This way of learning encompasses Literacy, Science, Humanities, Design and Technology and ICT.
Our Literacy teaching is divided into units of study which ensure a broad base of learning for the children. They will learn about fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts through reading and writing, grammar, phonics and spelling. They will also learn how to write in cursive print and later on, to join their letters into words. The children will not only continue to learn the mechanics of reading the printed word but also, through Guided Reading, develop a deeper understanding of texts through role-play, retelling and asking and answering questions.
We teach Maths using a balance of practical and recorded activities. We cover units of study which build on the learning from the previous year. The children will learn about numbers and the number system, shape, space and measure and data handling. We also include ICT skills whenever possible. The emphasis is on deepening the children’s understanding of numbers and once they are able to visualise numbers, moving away from the use of practical counting apparatus. We also encourage the children to understand the relevance of numbers to everyday life. Problem solving and number challenges are a way of extending their understanding.
Our Science work forms the basis for much of the cross-curricular study. During Key Stage 1 the children will learn about life and living processes, materials, plants and animals and physical processes. They will be encouraged to hypothesise and to test out their theories. We use practical and ‘brain-storming’ sessions as much as possible.
Related Downloads