Dear parents and guardians,
It has been a lovely start to the school year in KS1 and it has been a pleasure to get to know all the children this year.
We would just like to clarify a few elements of the school year to help understand the changes from EYFS to KS1.
Phonics
This year, we have implemented a fantastic brand-new phonics scheme called Read Write Inc. This is a tried and trusted phonics programme, which helps embed decoding skills and set the children up for success in their reading journey. The routines were brand new to the children this year, so we have been working on developing their understanding of the sounds, routines and expectations across KS1 and EYFS this half term,
Mrs Price has already held some lovely training sessions for parents and has more coming shortly. All these dates are on the school website and our KS1 message board. They are invaluable to help adults understand how children will be taught to read. Mrs Price can also answer any questions relating to the scheme at these sessions. There is also lots of fantastic information on the school website.
As part of the RWI programme, the children will work with staff at regular intervals to check their progress with the different sounds. This information is then used to ensure the children are in appropriate groups to teach the sounds the children need help to learn. This information is only used in school. An overall picture of their reading ability will be shared during student-led conferences and when the annual reports are returned home.
Home Reading
The children have been bringing ‘reading for pleasure’ books home so far this year. These books are for adults and children to share and are books that the children have chosen themselves. They are not pitched at the child’s reading level. They are for the children to enjoy and may need adults to read the book to them or support them in their reading.
From Monday, the children who can decode and blend will bring home RWI phonics books. These will be the books that they have already read in class the previous week. They should have read the particular book a minimum of 3 times. The children should be able to explain how they read the books in class and will already have a developing fluency with this book.
The delay in sending the RWI phonics books home was to ensure that the children have been taught the different sounds for their levels, how to ‘Fred talk’ and the process to read the trickier words and the RWI strategies to read the red (non-decodable) words.
Once book bags are returned on a Friday, the phonics books will be changed over the weekend and new books and book bags returned on a Monday.
Homework
Each week a small homework sheet is sent home. The activities on these sheets are consolidation activities and are designed to be low-stakes so that the children can access the majority of these tasks independently.
The sheet also has QR links to additional optional activities. These are activities that can extend the children’s learning but may need adult support. However, there are no expectations for children to complete these particular activities.
Important dates
At the start of each term, the diary dates for the following term will be on the school calendar and can also be accessed on the KS1 Message Board. We will always endeavour to keep any changes to a minimum. We acknowledge there were some teething issues at the start of the term, but have already acted on the feedback from parents to ensure that the information is provided promptly.
Going forward, the primary method of communication will be the KS1 blogs and message boards, but we will also try to text important messages.
There may be some whole school events that come out with slightly shorter notice, but we will try to ensure that this information is provided to parents with a minimum of one week’s notice.
Blogs
Across the year groups, we will always try to share a flavour of the learning the children complete. The way this is presented and the frequency will look slightly different to Evidence Me in EYFS. We are currently reviewing our protocols for the use of blogs and can only apologise for any inconsistencies that may have occurred this half term. We will work hard to ensure there is equity across the classes in KS1.
As with anything in KS1, we are always keen to work with parents to improve or clarify some of our processes. With this in mind, I would like to offer you the opportunity to have a conversation with myself. If you would like to discuss anything with me, please email [email protected] to book a conversation on Thursday afternoon between 2.30 and 3.15pm.
Once again thank you for all your support
Mr Longley and the KS1 team.