Once Again it is the beginning of the new academic year. We have a busy and exciting time ahead and would like to take this opportunity to outline some of the activities to come and some procedures for KS1 during 2008/2009. General Information Our KS1 team consists of Mrs Phillips and Mrs King in year 1 and Miss Powell in year 2. We are lucky to have excellent support in our classrooms. Amy Jones is working in year 1 and Sue Vaughan has recently joined the team in year 2. Sharon Morgan is supporting with language work in both year 1 and 2. Assessment As you may already be aware the end of Key Stage 1 SAT’s have been phased out over previous years. As a result alternative assessment procedures are now fully in place. Assessment will take place over the year and certain tasks will be used for assessment purposes. At the end of Year 2 a level for English, mathematics and science will be given on the basis of tasks undertaken and the teachers professional judgement. At the end of year 2 most of the children will be working within a level 2. Parents will be informed of the levels awarded and offered the opportunity to discuss achievement when the end of year reports are distributed. KS1 Curriculum The KS1 curriculum is organised into topics. This year we are having a whole departmental topic, which will be “The Wonderful world of colour” A variety of Elmer stories will be shared with the children as a starting point to explore the theme of colour. They will take part in activities that will cover all areas of the curriculum involving creative colour mixing activities, investigating the properties of colour and light, making maps of Elmer’s journeys and writing for a variety of purposes. In numeracy the children will be using their skills to problem solve in a variety of contexts and will be developing their understanding of the operations of addition and subtraction. They will also be investigating shape, space and measures, Assemblies and Productions Year 2 children will take the lead in the Christmas production which will also involve year 1. Parents are welcome to come along and watch the children perform. There will be an afternoon and an evening performance. Parents of Reception / Year 3 are invited to the Harvest Festival as new parents / friends of the school.

School Trips We are in the process of planning our trips for this year. All trips will be curriculum based and from previous experience enhance the curriculum greatly. Costs are an approximate guide and further information and permission slips will be provided nearer the time. We will also be using the local environment as a resource and will be going to the local woodland area and the church. It will be helpful if you can return the local walk slips as soon as possible.. PE / Games PE will be undertaken on a weekly basis and will be Wednesday morning for year 1 and Thursday morning for Year 2. Kit will be required on this day every week. The PE kit consists of a plain t-shirt and plain shorts. Could you make sure that the children are provided with plasters if they cannot remove their earrings. Games will take place weekly. Games day for year 1 is Thursday and for year 2 is Friday. The children may wear jogging bottoms and trainers to school on games days. Kits can be stored in the boxes situated in the cloakroom areas and taken home every few weeks for washing. PE and Games are a statutory requirement of the National Curriculum and therefore all children must participate. Children can be excused for medical reasons only on receipt of a note from parents. If a note is not received children will need to participate. All notes are kept as a record of attendance. Homework Spelling homework will be set for year 2 but there will be no formal testing of these spellings. The spelling set will be based on high frequency words and sound patterns. Homework whether topic or Maths will be set occasionally in year 1. Maths homework will be set every Thursday for year 2 and is due in the following Monday. The children may be asked to bring things in from home related to their topics. New Activity Room As a step towards the foundation stage we have opened the classrooms out with the middle classroom being used as extension of the classroom This has provided the children with opportunities to explore their own interests in a structured way. We are lucky to have the space and facilities to provide this. The children have really enjoyed using this area to enhance their learning.