Year 2 Stay and Play!

New testing procedures were put in place last year to match the newly updated national curriculum. We have sample tests and last year’s as examples but still a new process.

Taking the tests Your child may be completely unaware that they are taking them or that they are undertaking any activity that is not part of the normal school day. We have already started to “drop in “occasional test-type questions as part of our daily teaching and learning and will ensure children are very familiar with the format of the questions they will encounter. Schools can implement the tests at any time during the month of May and have flexibility in how the tests are administered. For example, tests may be taken individually, in groups or as a whole class. Although timings are given, these are guidelines and certain children may need a movement break between sections of a test or may be given a little longer if they are known to be very slow writers.

Marking and Results All the tests will be marked by your child’s class teacher. Test pass marks are provided to schools in June, after the tests are completed. Test results will indicate whether the expected end of year standard has been achieved. The results will be reported to you as part of your child’s annual report at the end of the school year.

Maths tests:There are two test papers for Maths in Year 2. Paper 1- Arithmetic ( approx. 20 mins) This paper will test number and calculation skills. To achieve well in this test children will need to be able to quickly recall number facts and apply them mentally. 25 questions which require children to know number facts such as the number bonds (adding 2, single digit numbers) and the 2x,5x and 10x tables. The questions get progressively harder through the test. Towards the end there are some more challenging calculations such as missing number problems or finding fractions of quantities.

Sample KS1 Arithmetic Paper

Sample KS1 Arithmetic Paper

Sample KS1 Arithmetic Paper

Paper 2: Reasoning- using Maths to solve problems ( approx. 35 mins) The first five questions will be read to your child before they move on to the rest of the paper. If they find anything difficult to read in the rest of this paper, they are allowed help. The questions in this paper often include some background context, such as using money to buy fruit or measuring drinks. The earlier questions are straightforward while towards the end questions are more challenging. Not all children will reach the end or complete them and that is fine! Some of the questions may also require more than one step and so will be worth two points.

Sample KS1 Reasoning Paper

Sample KS1 Reasoning Paper

English Tests: Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling ( 2 papers) and Reading( 2 papers) are the areas that are tested. Paper 1 - Spelling ( approx. 15 mins- 20 words) This paper assesses spelling high frequency words correctly, choosing correct graphemes to spell words and applying spelling rules for plurals, prefixes and suffixes. Each word is read out as part of a sentence, which is printed in the answer booklet. Children are asked to write the missing word into the gap. Paper 2- Grammar, Punctuation and Vocabulary ( 20 mins approx) This paper assesses grammar and punctuation, referring to your child’s knowledge of grammatical terms (such as noun and verb) and the use of words in the right context. Some questions will require children to put in the appropriate punctuation marks to sentences, or to change the tense of a sentence.

Paper 1- Spelling: sample questions (The missing words are: sunny, face, group, fingers, paints, kitten)

Paper 2- Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling sample questions

The Reading Tests These are designed to test the children's reading fluency and accuracy. Paper 1 (lower challenge, approx. 30 mins) The first paper contains short texts with two or three questions to answer. Many of these require either single word answers or ticking a box. Paper 2 – (higher challenge- 40 mins approx.) Children will read two different texts and use these to answer questions in a separate booklet. Most children will take this paper but teachers will not expect all children to compete the whole task. If a child is finding the reading more of a challenge at this stage, then the teacher will stop the test at an appropriate time. The questions in the booklet contain a mixture of tick box and “circle the correct answer” questions with some that require a written answer. Some questions require a simple answer using information from the text while others will ask your child to explain something in more detail.

Reading Paper 1- sample questions

Reading Paper 2- sample questions

Reading Paper 2- sample

How can we help at home? Read together frequently, discussing what has been read in detail and asking questions which refer to the text as a whole , which require inference ( reading between the lines) or expressing and explaining an opinion. Use the reading targets in your child’s home reading diary as a guide. Practise recalling key number facts from memory in a fun way ,using games or websites such as those in the number fact and times table booklets sent home earlier in the year. Encourage writing at every opportunity, without making it a chore. Ask your child to check their own writing when finished, with your support, for spellings, punctuation and to make sure that what they have written makes sense. Spelling- the phonic family sheets should help as a revision for the Year 1 and 2 phonics. These words should be spelt from memory. Looking for these words when reading will also help children to recall these spelling patterns. Further spelling support will be sent home this term, for example to support spelling of plurals and suffixes. We also have a new list( from last month) of expected key words for Year 2. We are, of course, continually working on these at school too! Don’t worry- if you are worried, your child will worry too! If we have any concerns about your child’s learning we will already have told you! Please do ask your child’s teacher if you have any questions or concerns!

What to expect today! Have fun! COOL time – Continuing our own learning…. Children have the opportunity several times a week to follow their own interests and make their own choices while practising taught skills. These are cross-curricular activities set as challenges which the children try to complete independently. Today’s COOL activities are linked to our New Zealand topic. Have fun!