1. ‘Assessment practice will follow and reinforce the curriculum and promote high quality learning and teaching approaches. Assessment of children’s and young people’s progress and achievement during their broad general education to the end of S3 will be based on teachers’ assessment of their knowledge and understanding, skills, attributes and capabilities, as described in the experiences and outcomes across the curriculum.’
(Building the Curriculum 5: A Framework for Assessment, p. 8)
Literacy in P1

2. What can I expect in P1?
Lots of people think that children come into P1 and immediately it’s time to get down to the business of reading and writing.

3. Getting it right for every child
That’s not appropriate for many children – no child left behind, no child held back

4. Foundation skills Listening Talking
Engaging with music, movement & memory
Engaging with stories
Concepts of print
Awareness of sounds
Physical readiness for writing
Nowadays we have a more screen based lifestyle, less outdoor play, less social play. This means that sometimes children are coming to school without having developed skills that in the past were taken for granted. This means that they can struggle with all aspects of learning – not just literacy and numeracy, but also self confidence, creativity, problem solving skills, regulating their behaviour etc. For example, if they can’t listen then that obviously causes problems which are often seen as behavioural, but might just be because their listening skills aren’t fully developed. So one of the things we’ll be doing this year is lots of activities which develop these skills. It’s important that these skills are developed at home as well.

5. Learning to read
Things you could cover: the use of sounds not letter names, the speed you go at, how spelling is taught alongside reading, etc (according to how it’s approached in your context)

6. Learning to write
If children are asked to write formally before they’ve developed a) their fine motor skills and b) the maturity to understand why they’re doing it, it can have a lasting effect – they might be turned off writing as they go through school. In this approach, children are taught to form their letters from the start – but not by writing them down. They can make shapes in the air, in glitter etc. If they want to write they can – there are opportunities for writing in all areas of the classroom. However, we are delaying the formal acquisition of handwriting until everyone is ready – certainly likely to be after October and may well be into January. Instead, we’ll be encouraging them to develop important skills e.g. adding detail into drawings, talking through ideas in depth, building fine motor control. We aren’t holding your child back – instead, this approach mean that they will write when it’s developmentally appropriate for them and that will have a positive impact in the long term. If they’re ready to write then there are lots of opportunities for it that they can choose to do. Research shows that if children are forced to write in contexts which are meaningless to them, this can also have a negative long term effect on their attitude to writing.

7. We need your help
What percentage of time do you think pupils spend in school over a year?
15%
“Parents, carers and families are by far the most important influences in a child’s life. Parents who take on a supportive role in their child’s learning make a difference in improving achievement and behaviour.”
Education Scotland: Engaging parents and families
A 2015 study looked at 13 measures of individual and parental attitudes and behaviours and their impact -things like intrinsic pupil motivation, parental income, parenting styles, substance abuse in the home, pupil self esteem. The ONLY measure with significant evidence showing an impact on school attainment was parental involvement.

8. The benefits to pupils:
Pupils do better at school
They do better in ALL subjects
They develop better problem solving skills
They enjoy school more
School attendance goes up
Pupils demonstrate fewer behavioural problems
Their social and emotional skills develop more
“Why Families Matter to Literacy,” National Literacy Trust
Pupils do better, not just at primary, but all the way up through school, if they have support with their learning at home.

9. Benefits to parents
Greater skill acquisition – you can become better at the skills
Greater confidence and self-esteem
Better parent-child relationships
Your child will be more engaged with schoolwork
“Why Families Matter to Literacy,” National Literacy Trust

10. What can you do?
Develop their foundation skills Talk with them Share stories Praise them
Turn the TV off!! Model reading and writing. If you’re reading on a tablet children are unlikely to know that you’re reading – you need to be physically reading a book or magazine or newspaper and explain why you’re reading it (for information, for fun etc). Children also need to see you physically writing – shopping lists, to do lists, notes to people etc. Don’t always just take a photo of something on your phone – write it down. If you’re writing it into a note on your phone, show them what you’re doing and explain why.
Foundation skills – booklet to give out
Talk – talk is at the heart of all learning. We have to be able to put things together in words before wecna do anything and we have to be able to talk things before we can write them. Parental quiz about talk skills – ideas for how to develop and sustain effective talk in the home
Share stories – how to do this – messages that can be passed on to grandparents etc. Handout
4 Praise – it’s very easy for children to feel as if they can’t do things. It’s OK if things don’t happen quickly – praise what they can do and keep them motivated for learning.

11. What information will we share with you?
Use this opportunity to tell parents how you will keep them in the loop

12. questions
But my child can read / write already. This isn’t about holding children back. If children are ready they will get the opportunity to practice important skills. But not all children are ready and this approach gives everybody the chance to shine. At this stage it’s also very difficult t separate out academic and social / emotional skills. If we focus just on the academic, other skills are likely to suffer. The foundation skills develop literacy, but also self regulation, social awareness, empathy, physical development etc.
You’re the school – they should just play at home – absolutely yes, play is really important. So long as they are playing and not watching the TV! 1-2 hours = maximum daily screen time at this age. Play is a vital part of learning. Also, they’re only in school for 15% of their time.
I just play them an audio book – it’s important to set up an emotional connection with reading – the feeling of closeness and safety and security that can come from regular reading with your child is invaluable and an audio book can’t recreate that. Although consider audio books in the car instead of a film – the whole family can listen. You can also get free podcasts.
My parents never read to me and I was OK – you’re one of the lucky ones. Today’s children have far more distractions than people had in the past – TV on demand, increased access to screen time etc. There is a definite downward turn in the foundation skills that children are coming to school with – your child might also be one of the lucky ones and that’s fine – they can develop at their own pace. But we have to ensure that all children can succeed.