KEY STAGE 2

1. KEY STAGE 2 English skills at Key Stage 2.

2. READING Being a parent is just one long competition…… …. the race to get out of nappies! The race through the coloured book bands…… but now …. RELAX! Your child is a free reader.

3. Free Reader Alert Becoming a ‘free reader’ is a huge achievement for a child but is also a time when they need a huge amount of support. So, how best to support your child to become a life-long reader.

4. 1. Read to or with your child… Beginning a new book can be daunting, hearing you read enables your child to get to grips with an author’s style and to understand new vocabulary. They will be more confident to attempt a more challenging book and step out of their comfort zone if they hear you read it first.

5. We love Wimpy Kid, David Walliams and those fabulous fairies. These books are great for children to build reading confidence. They are formulaic and children like them. However, by the end of key stage 2 children need to be broadening their reading – reading a range of fiction and non-fiction and experimenting with a range of different styles of writing from a range of different authors.

6. My child is struggling with reading and all the books they can read seem very young. They are becoming disillusioned with reading? Have you tried Barrington-Stoke books? Barrington-stoke books are just one of many hi- lo publishers who have designed books with a hi level of interest for older children but with a lower reading age. These books tend to be shorter and are printed with a clearer font on tinted paper, to support readers with dyslexia. Look at their website and select books with a set age range and reading ability. The really great thing about these books is that they are written by established children’s authors including: Andy Stanton, Michael Morpurgo, Julia Donaldson, Jeremy Strong, Tom Palmer and Kaye Umansky so they are a great gateway into longer books. They are good for ALL readers who like a shorter book. There is a section of these in the Attleborough Library.

7. Don’t forget picture books? There are some great picture books for childrenin Key Stage 2 so enjoy these with your child too. These are just a few books aimed at older children there are many, many more. They are great for discussion.

8. How do we teach reading skills at key Stage 2? Most of the reading that children do at this key stage is through guided reading, independent reading and the focussed study of texts in class lessons. Teachers read to children from a class book.

9. Guided Reading Children read in a group with a teacher or teaching assistant. The adult guides the children through the text asking them to: • make predictions about what may happen next. • try to work out the meaning of new vocabulary from the context. • make inferences about the characters and their behaviour. • give opinions about actions and characters and find evidence in the text to support their ideas. Older children are asked to read independently to a given point . They can then discuss their ideas the next time the group meets. These are all skills which feed directly into expectations at high school.

10. Whole class guided reading Sometimes the teacher may choose to read a text with the whole class. Just as in group reading, the adult will draw attention to specific points, ask the children to share their ideas and find evidence to support them from the text or to draw a character or place using evidence from their reading. Whole class reading can be particularly useful when a book has a direct link to a topic as the teacher can use the interactive whiteboard to illustrate unfamiliar vocabulary and to explain the meaning of words which are specific to the class topic.

11. Text work – building comprehension skills. Eg. Inference. This type of activity requires children to find evidence for their ideas.

12. Making inferences, identifying specific vocabulary and identifying authors techniques.These are all skills which are tested in the KS2 SATs papers.ExamplesWhat group of words (not the whole sentence) tells you she was nervous, yet excited at the start of the passage?What has the author done to build up tension / suspense in this paragraph?

13. Look at the first paragraph.Write down 3 words that tell you that the walk through the woodland was difficult.What word tells you that the cave was damp and musty?Read the description of the moon can you draw it?Look at the symbols. Can you draw them in the order you think the children see them?

14. Reading • The reading paper will consist of: A reading booklet containing 3 distinct texts (1500 – 2300 words) A question booklet – 50 marks in total It will take 60 min The school library is open Tuesday / Thursday after school.

15. WRITING So, I read to my child every night, they listen to story tapes, we share challenging books – what can I do to help my child write! Well, you’ve done a lot of it! Good readers are good writers. No amount of text books, examination practise and grammar revision will make up for this. In fact the largest element of the criteria for achieving greater depth in writing is for children to be avid readers who actively take words, phrases and ideas from their own independent reading to use in their writing. However, the standards of writing are tough and they are not a best fit. A child’s writing has to ‘tick’ every box of the assessment criteria. If a child has a specific weakness such as spelling this is a separate consideration but here there has to be evidence of additional work/practise. THE WEBSITE has a lot more information about the expectations at the end of Key stage and examples of children’s writing.

16. There must be more. What about the dreaded SPAG all that grammatical terminology – adverbial phrases, progressive tense, subjunctive ….. Good writers will be using all these things although they may not be so confident at naming them! Good writers will also be writing in a style which requires more advanced punctuation such as colons, semi-colons, dashes and hyphens. To develop sentence structure, children have to be secure about writing in complete sentences. When they have mastered this, adding on additional grammatical structures is easy. .

17. SPAG Paper 1 – grammar and punctuation: 45min 50 marks Paper 2 – spelling: 20 marks The papers are tightly marked. Punctuation errors such as: putting an apostrophe in the wrong place, forgetting to end a question with a question mark or placing speech marks above, rather than after, the final punctuation mark will not be given the mark. Encourage children to check their own writing carefully so they do not lose marks unnecessarily.

18. Spelling Spelling – the spelling requirements are tough. However, the spelling patterns which are taught in year 3 are revisited in year 4. Those taught in year 5 and revisited in year 6 (albeit with different more challenging words). Practice will pay off – spending just a few minutes a day will pay off in the long run when the patterns are revisited. The year 3 / 4 key words and the year 5 / 6 key words are those which the children are expected to use in their own writing. They are expected to spell them correctly although this is not to say that they cannot check these spellings using a dictionary or spelling mat.

19. Techniques to learn spellings Website https://morley.norfolk.sch.uk/english/

20. Maths

21. Times table check End of year 4 Tested on tables up to 12 x 12. Children have 25 questions and 6 seconds per question. This is done on a computer and is only multiplication (no division) The best way of supporting your child is TTR (Sound check is a simulation of the test) For children who panic with a time element a good starting point would be My Maths.

22. Maths My Maths homework supports and pre-teaches children. Completing this really supports children in their learning. If they find a concept difficult, work through the lesson with them. Getting your child to teach you a concept, is a powerful way to consolidate knowledge.

23. Maths at the end of KS2 • There will be 3 papers: • 1. The Arithmetic Paper – 40 marks. 30 min This paper assesses operations: addition, subtraction, division, multiplication etc. 2. Papers 1 and 2 – 35 marks per paper. 40 min each. These papers assess mathematical reasoning and problem solving. Calculators can not be used in any paper. There is no mental maths paper.

24. There has been a shift from methods such as the grid method or the ‘chunking’ method to more formal methods – probably those parents are more familiar with. The arithmetic paper will test this. Children may still use other methods but they must be accurate. Partial marks will not be awarded for errors with these methods as previously. • “Partial marks will be awarded for correct working where the final answer is wrong but the pupil has used the formal method of working; where the grid method has been used for long multiplication or the ‘chunking’ method for long division, partial marks will not be awarded. “ .

25. What tests will my child take at the end of KS 2? • There will be tests in: • English grammar, punctuation and spelling (The S.P.A.G. test) • Maths: 3 papers • Reading comprehension • Writing is assessed by teachers and often moderated externally. There is not a written test.

26. Outdoor education. All children will receive outdoor education run by a trained forest school leader. This will be run as part of the creative curriculum afternoon on a Friday.

27. Forest SchoolsForest school is about developing the holistic child through regular sessions in an outdoor environment. We are also hoping to run a forest school session on a Monday afternoon. For these sessions we will need parent volunteers. Anyone who is interested in giving up their Monday afternoon to work with children in this setting, please speak to Mr East at the end of the session.