"Pupils develop sophisticated study skills from an early age"
(ISI Education Quality Inspection, November 2019)

Key Stage 1

YEARS 1 & 2

AGE RANGE 5-7 YEARS

Dair House takes pride in its small class sizes throughout Key Stage1.

Teaching is mainly classroom based with the class teacher providing individual care and attention, as well as teaching English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and PSHE to their class.

Subjects such as Art, Music, French, Games/PE and Computing are taught by specialists. This provides a broad and balanced curriculum which is essential for each child’s continued development.

The subjects taught in Years 1 and 2 are as follows: English, Mathematics, Science, French, Humanities, RE, PSHE, ICT, Art, Design & Technology, Music, Games, PE and Swimming.

ASSESSMENTS

We do not participate in the KS1 SATs, therefore, we can dedicate more time to teaching children to enjoy learning about and exploring the world around them. We do, however, monitor the children’s progress using standardised assessments.

In Year 1, children are assessed in the Autumn term in Reading and Reasoning. In the Summer term we use Progress in English and Progress in Maths assessments as well as a Spelling and a second Reading assessment.

In Year 2, children are assessed in the same areas as in Year 1, but we also use a Non-Verbal Reasoning assessment in the Autumn term.

REPORTING

Parents of children in both Years 1 and 2 receive written reports at the end of the Autumn and Summer terms. The Autumn report concentrates on English, Mathematics, Science and the class teacher’s report. In the Summer term, we report on progress made and set targets for all the subjects taught.

HOMEWORK

Year 1 children take home reading and spelling homework on a daily basis and at weekends.

Year 2 children also have daily reading and spelling homework, whilst at the weekends consolidation work for English and Mathematics may also be set.

EDUCATIONAL VISITS

Children in Years 1 and 2 regularly participate in educational visits. We aim to plan one educational visit per term for each class which is topic based.

We usually organise at least two educational visits during the academic year to enhance our teaching.