Academic Subjects
Year One and Year Two: 5 - 7 years

In September following their fifth birthday our pupils move from the Foundation Stage into Key Stage One starting with Year One. Literacy, Numeracy and Science continue to be priority as our aim is to help all our children achieve their best. (In the May of the year they commence Year Two, all pupils undertake the necessary Key Stage One assessments, again making it our priority to ensure the children perform at their very best.)

In addition to following the guidelines of the National Curriculum for the core subjects of Mathematics, English and Science, the children in Key Stage One study the following subjects:

History Geography Religious Education Personal, Social and Health Education Citizenship Music Art and Design Games Gymnastics Dance Drama Information and Communication Technology French Recorder (*) Swimming (*) (* denotes subjects added in Year Two)

Pupils in both Year One and Year Two also benefit from well-qualified and experienced teachers and full time classroom assistants, working in two parallel classes. Class sizes are small, whereas classrooms are well resourced and have for the most part an equal number of boys and girls. The core subjects are taught by class teachers, ensuring thorough teaching and continuity, whilst the specialists staff (Music, Drama, French, and Physical Education) teach with a high level of experience in their specialist subjects. Practical work, mental arithmetic, science investigations, confidence in computer handling, joined up handwriting, spelling, fluency in reading and writing and a love of school are just some of the skills which can be achieved in our pupils in Key Stage One.

Homework and Reading

All pupils in Key Stage One receive homework on most evenings and communication to parents is valued, being carried out through the homework notebook. Parents are welcome at The Elms and we take seriously our responsibility to communicate educational, social and emotional progress. Parent Evenings take place twice each year and reports are issued at the end of the first and third terms. Informal meetings are arranged at the discretion of teachers or parents.

In order to satisfy our children's appetite for reading we have all the well-known reading schemes available as well as plenty of choices for the children, and our range of diverse materials guarantees interest, motivation and pleasure in reading.