At Pattison, our Key Stage 1 is special: it is one class comprising both Years 1 and 2 children. This means children between the ages of 5 to 7 have two years to learn the Key Stage objectives. This gives the younger children a better chance of meeting those learning objectives and allows the older children time to grow in confidence.

Good literacy and numeracy skills are essential at this stage and mixed age/ability is an ideal environment in which to encourage this. Throughout each day, pupils will have the opportunity to practise speaking, writing and listening, as well as working on their maths, numbers and tables. Each pupil, regardless of age or ability, has a voice and all children have a sense of worth in the classroom. Our Key Stage 1 children have plenty of individual teacher time, reading aloud and having their reading books changed regularly.

The pupils also receive additional specialist teaching in Music, Art, PE/Swimming, Dance and Speech and there are opportunities to perform throughout the school year.

Year 1 have a Phonics assessment and both years take NFER tests.

During the Autumn and Spring Terms, pupils in Years 1 and 2 attend the Alan Higgs Centre to take part in a variety of sporting activities, including ball skills, to improve hand-eye coordination, team games, such as tag rugby, volleyball and hockey and short tennis. In the Summer Term, the pupils have a weekly swimming lesson with professional coaches.

The children have some of their dance classes during the school day. It is important for the pupils to have plenty of both physical and mental exercise.

Education works best when there is a strong synergy between the school and parents. We do ask parents to hear their children read, or read to them regularly – preferably on a daily basis – to help their children discover a real joy for reading and exploring new worlds and words.

We believe that our Key Stage 1 class is an exciting learning experience, full of fun and new challenges. It is an environment where the children are nurtured and where they can grow happily and safely, exploring new ideas and discovering the pleasures of learning.