1. Year 2 Parent Workshop

2. SATS are the national tests in Literacy and Numeracy for children at the end of Years 2, 6 and 9. Schools are required to use these tests to get a picture of how well their pupils are doing in each subject, compared to children at other schools nationally. Your child's final outcome will be arrived at through teacher assessment as this gives a more accurate picture of how your child is progressing overall. All assessments that take place throughout the year aids teachers' planning to ensure the individual needs of the children are being met.

3. SATS are held during May. Children sit the tests before lunch and normal curriculum activities continue in the afternoon. It is vital that you do not plan any activities that may result in you taking your child out of school during the SATS week. SATS are part of the ongoing assessment process. At the end of the year class teachers will use the results to inform/confirm their final judgements.

4. With the introduction of the new curriculum has come a new method of assessing progress which has replaced the ‘levels’ (i.e. 2b, 4c) which you may have been familiar with. Following on from the Reception end of year report expectation of ‘emerging, expected and exceeding’ the government will be using similar classifications for the end of Key Stage 1 and 2. For the academic year 2015-16 the government has provided an interim framework for teacher assessment for children at the end of Key Stage 1 and 2 to be assessed as either;  Working towards the expected standard  Working at the expected standard  Working at greater depth within the expected standard

5.  English reading Paper 1: combined reading prompt and answer booklet  English reading Paper 2: reading booklet and reading answer booklet  English grammar, punctuation and spelling Paper 1: spelling  English grammar, punctuation and spelling Paper 2: questions  Mathematics Paper 1: arithmetic  Mathematics Paper 2: reasoning N.B. There is no separate test-based assessment of writing, this is done through teacher assessment.

6. Reading

7. Reading in the Curriculum  Whole class shared reading comprehension - practice in reading, understanding and finding the answer within the text.  Small guided reading sessions – opportunities are provided to develop and use key reading strategies, e.g. answering questions about a text.  Individual reading - time to practice and address any specific issues.  Reading for enjoyment - Exposure to a wide range of text types. An on going class story is read to the children.  Reading to broaden subject knowledge across the whole curriculum - e.g. reading scientific books.

8. Please do not underestimate the importance of reading to your child on a regular basis. The benefits are enormous and all children love being read to. It exposes the children to a rich and varied vocabulary. It also gives them the opportunity to hear a wide range of exciting texts. It is extremely powerful to read in front of your child too.

9. Reading Test Papers  The new reading test has a greater emphasis on the comprehension elements of the new curriculum. There are 2 reading papers, one with the texts and questions combined and one with more challenging texts with the questions in a separate booklet. Both papers must be administered to all pupils.  Paper 1 consists of a combined reading prompt and answer booklet. It is expected that the test will take approximately 30 minutes to complete but it is not strictly timed.  Paper 2 consists of a reading answer booklet and a separate reading booklet. It is expected that the test will take approximately 40 minutes to complete but it is not strictly timed.

21. S.P.A.G Spelling Punctuation and Grammar

22. S.P.A.G in the Curriculum The new spelling, punctuation and grammar strand of the literacy curriculum has an emphasis on technical aspects of grammar. Each week children are introduced to or re-visit a spelling pattern, and several of the following areas. Tense  to use consistence present tense and past tense throughout writing. Punctuation  Capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks to demarcate sentences. Commas, to separate items in a list and apostrophes to mark where letters are missing in spelling or to mark singular possession in nouns e.g. Jenny’s pencil.

23. S.P.A.G in the Curriculum Words  to use suffixes such as –ness, –er -ful – less and by and understand compound words e.g. whiteboard, superman.  to use –ly to turn adjectives into adverbs e.g. happily, beautifully.  to use conjunctions to extend and join sentences e.g. because, but, so, and, therefore.  to use adjectives to extend noun phrases for description and specification e.g. the blue butterfly, plain flour, the man in the moon. Sentences  To identify the type of sentence, looking at grammatical patterns in a sentence to indicate its function as a statement, question, exclamation or command.

24. S.P.A.G Test Papers  Paper 1: spelling - answer booklet to complete - 20 missing words. 15 minutes but not strictly timed.  Paper 2: questions -focusing on pupils' knowledge of grammar, punctuation and vocabulary - 20 minutes but not strictly timed.

30. Writing

31. Writing Assessments The written task has been removed and writing will instead be assessed through teacher assessment.

32. Writing in the Curriculum  During the year we cover a wide range of genre, from stories and poems to reports and instruction writing.  Children are introduced to the features of each genre e.g. story openers, chronological ordering, rhyming etc.  Children are encouraged to write in full sentences and use a range of punctuation.  It is important for children to check their work to ensure it makes sense, begin to edit and improve their own work and to use language appropriate to a genre.  Children are reminded to use learnt words and spelling patterns within their writing and to develop cursive handwriting.

33. Writing Example

35. Mathematics

36. Mathematics in the curriculum  We help children to develop confidence and mental fluency with whole numbers, counting and place value by working with numerals, words and the four operations. This includes the use of practical resources.  Children develop their ability to recognise, describe, draw, compare and sort different shapes and use the related vocabulary.  We use a range of measures to describe and compare different quantities such as length, mass, capacity/volume, time and money.

37. Mathematics in the curriculum By the end of year 2, children should know the number bonds to 20 and be precise in using and understanding place value. Children should read and spell mathematical vocabulary, at a level consistent with their increasing word reading and spelling knowledge. Year 2 Mathematic targets and calculation policy can be found on the school website @ oli.kingston.sch.uk/curriculum/maths. Scroll down to the bottom of the page.

38. Mathematics Test Papers In mathematics a new arithmetic test has been introduced. They are not reading tests and children are fully supported with reading the questions. However definitions can not be given and it is important that children understand the mathematical vocabulary. Children should always be encouraged to show their workings out. There are two papers  Paper 1: Arithmetic  Paper 2: Reasoning

39. Mathematics Test Papers Paper 1: arithmetic assesses pupils’ confidence and mathematical fluency with whole numbers, place-value and counting. The test consists of a single test paper. It is expected that the test will take approximately 20 minutes to complete but it is not strictly timed. Paper 2: reasoning assesses pupils’ mathematical fluency, problem solving and reasoning skills. This test consists of a single test paper. It is expected that the reasoning paper will take approximately 35 minutes to complete but it is not strictly timed. The paper includes a practice question and 5 aural questions. After the aural questions, the time for the remainder of the paper should be approximately 30 minutes.

47. Q. Look at the ladybirds. How many ladybirds are there? Write your answer in the box. Q. What number is one less than 24?

48. Q. Amy has a sheet of paper. She cuts it into halves. How many pieces of paper does she have now? Q. Sam’s arm is 50 cm long. Ben’s arm is 40 cm long. How much longer is Sam’s are than Ben’s arm?

54.  Year 2 is a very demanding year. Children are becoming used to a much faster pace and a more formal curriculum. They will be tired when they get home.  Short regular sessions of homework are far more beneficial than longer sessions once a week.  Children are given the opportunity to practice for the SATS papers at school. There is no need to buy or ask your child to complete any other work.  Work sent home by your class teacher, in conjunction with class work, will be enough to prepare your child for the SATS in May.

55.  In January children will start to be exposed to practice SATS materials and will become used to answering questions in a set format.  During the SATS children have plenty of time to complete each test.  Year 2 children are still very young and it is important that SATS are seen by them as just a part of normal assessment procedures.

56. Literacy www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy www.primarygamesarena.com/Years/Year-2 www.ictgames.co.uk/literacy www.phonicsplay.co.uk/freeIndex.htm Mathematics www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/numeracy www.maths-games.org/times-tables-games www.primarygamesarena.com/Years/Year-2 www.ictgames.co.uk/numeracy