Helen Posted March 5, 2003 Share Posted March 5, 2003 I've just read an uplifting piece in a recent Nursery World magazine, about a primary school in the West Midlands who have used the principles of the FS, i.e. a child-focussed ethos, learning through play etc , to plan activities for their Year 1s. The head talked about how stressed the children are with the pressure of SATs in year 2, and about how she feels assessment should be done less formally. Do you think that Key Stage 1 SATs are not long for this world?! Let's hope so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megan Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 I hope so The Foundation Stage has been extended in Wales into key Stage 1; wouldn't it be great if England followed soon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 15, 2003 Share Posted April 15, 2003 With having the mixed reception / year 1 class this tends to happen anyway where I am - I prefer practical activities to reams and reams of recording for both year groups. I started with year 1 being a continuation of reception (but at a higher level of outcome) and I've gradually made the situation for year 1 more formal as the year's gone on in preparation for the fact that they're going to be in year 2 very very soon and will have to be able to cope. I think it's cruel to suddenly switch the play off at the end of reception year - I've seen my class benefit hugely from having a taught maths lesson on something like money, then consolidate it through free play in the shop area - and what's interesting is that the year 1s tend to scaffold and bring on the learning of reception when they play together - some reception moved from making amounts using 1p coins to using 2p coins quite spontaneously after being let loose with year 1 in the class shop! It's quite funny to watch - reception always want a go at answering year 1's questions - and year 1 don't half like to show off to reception! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mundia Posted April 15, 2003 Share Posted April 15, 2003 Part of my action plan as maths coordinator was to introduce much more play based maths into year 1 which would then be extended into other areas of the curriculum once the teachers and other coordinators felt more comfortable with it. It was really showing to ebe a success for the children as rthey would often say to me 'I like this kind of maths' but unfortunatel the Head has now moved all the techers around and it will be someone else in year 1 next year so we will have to start all over again... lets hope England takes a leaf out of the welsh book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted April 25, 2003 Author Share Posted April 25, 2003 Hi Mundia, Dis you use the National Numeracy Strategy stuff that came out to pre-schools in the autumn term, or did schools not get access to that? That emphasized practical maths activities too, and confirmed how important it is for us to provide really meaningful maths during play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 25, 2003 Share Posted April 25, 2003 Hi, Sorry to interupt this discussion, but you thought people might be able to help? I am looking for a Curriculum Document? I am unsure what this is and can only imagine what I am actually looking for is 'Foundation Stage Curriculum Guidance'. My setting certainly doesn't have a Curriculum Document - does anyone else's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mundia Posted April 26, 2003 Share Posted April 26, 2003 Helen We did get the maths pack you are referring to plus training for 1 of our teachers but we were already on the way. I find that the sort of books you have got buried in maths cupboards that you may throw out as being 'out of date' are exactly the books that have got lots of games/practical activities for years 1 and 2 maths. Becky, I think you are right- the curriculum guidance is what you are looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 28, 2003 Share Posted April 28, 2003 I am working with a school to plan a mixed age approach to the reception and Year 1 groups - about 90 children in all. We want to extend the FD stage approach into Year 1 as well as plan a gradual preparation towards Year 2 type activity. Does anyone know of good examples of schools doing such work? Rowena Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted April 28, 2003 Share Posted April 28, 2003 Featherstone Publications have a mixed year1 / Reception book teachers resource, which details planning matches . As we were most interested in some ideas for extension work (for yrR) or support (for yr1) in literacy & Maths and it only refers to the strategies, it wasn't alot of help to us but if you're teaching a mixed a class it could be useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted April 28, 2003 Share Posted April 28, 2003 Hi Rowena, and welcome to the forum (Member number 100 eh? There ought to be some sort of free holiday or something for that. Sadly at the moment, there isn't...) Not immediately useful, but I think Debs2000 is reception/year 1. I'll contact her and see if I'm right about that. It might be something to have a chat about. Regards, Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 Becky - you need to email the QCA (the website's www.qca.org.uk) and ask for a copy of the publication called "curriculum guidance for the foundation stage" which is the foundation stage curriculum. Rowena - for what it's worth I have mixed reception / year 1 - at the moment 13 reception and 10 year one pupils. We follow the QCA topics for year 1 and link these themes into the early learning goals for reception. It means year 1 get a little bit more of an informal play-based setting (they are allowed to access the reception areas if they finish their work) but it does mean reception ends up being a little more formal than I'd ideally like - we have to do literacy hour from the start - but in an informalish way (big book, change carpets, jolly phonics and a phonicy game). Year 1 it means get the time, especially at the start of the year to play and learn that way. I gradually make the situation more formal with written work and amount of time on-task to prepare for year 2 (I hate the thought of sending them up to sit SATS though ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Hi, I'm new to the site, but this thread caught my eye. I am Key Stage 1 coordinator and I am currently working with our foundation stage to try to ease the transition from R to Y1. We want to make the first term of Y1 run more like a reception classroom, rather than formalising the last term in reception to become more like Year 1. I'll certainly be looking at the books you've recommended, so thank you for that! I was wondering if the members here who are interested in doing the same thing would fancy sharing ideas, or having a brainstorming session sometime?! I hope to hear from you soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Hi Tamara - Welcome to the community! It's great to have a keystage 1 co-ordinator becoming involved There is an excellent discussion taking place here on reception technique and layout. If you haven't found it yet you might want to visit it. I hope you enjoy yourself here! Regards, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 Thanks Steve Following what I read on this thread I downloaded the guidance from the Welsh Assembly on the 3-7 yrs Foundation Stage and I have to say I'm all in favour! The document I have suggests that this will be phased in over 5 years, but I'm hoping to put something in place in my own year 1 classes from September 03. If anyone already has any kind of transition policy to link Foundation Stage with Year 1 I'd be delighted to discuss this with you, so please let me know! If not, If anyone here wants to share ideas about this then please yell. A couple of things I'm not so clear on - and at risk of hijacking the thread (Mods, feel free to move this post if you feel it would be better suited elsewhere) do Welsh schools to SAT's or similar at age 7? I'm very much hoping we will have the KS1 SATS scraped before next year - but I was wondering if the foundation stage in Wales would be leading up to those tests in the final year? Back to topic.. Play in Year 1. With a very teeny tiny budget I'm struggling a little, but every Key Stage 1 classroom has sand or water and a role play area available to the children throughout the year. That's all well and good - however it concerns me that the children are not given sufficient time to actually play with these things. While I am lucky enough to have a full time classroom assisstant to every KS1 classroom, I find it very hard to timetable adults into these areas of learning to play with the children. I'd love my Year 1 classes to run in a similar way to reception classes regarding classroom organisation and layout with various continuous provisions and a balance of individual, group and whole class activities. Im going to try to match up Year 1 objectives with the desirable outcomes during the half term holiday *fun* so PLEASE if anyone has already done this - I will pay you lots if you'll share it with me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 Tamara, The Featherstone publication that I mentioned earlier matches Early Learning Goals to KS1, yr 1 as far as I remember. It costs about £25 for the book and a floppy disc or less for the book on its own. We wanted to extend Summer term Foundation to yr1 & Autumn yr1 to Foundation for the more/ less able in literacy & numeracy. Unfortunately the book only refers to the strategies but shows how you could teach a mixed Reception/ year1 class together in other curricular areas. If it would help, I will try to remember to bring it home with me on Monday and describe its contents more accurately. There's a website at www.featherstone.uk.com The Little Books by the same people are also excellent. I'm actually going to QCA at the beginning of next half term to discuss the issue of extending Foundation Curriculum into Yr1. I thought it was a "how to" when I accepted the invitation although the blurb I've since had seems as if it might be a " how have you". We also are interesred in the possibilities and certainly as Foundation Coordinator I am very keen. So few of our children are ready for literacy and numeracy hours and you certainly get to the point when you think I am I teaching content or structure, which is more beneficial ? For me the answer is always content. I'll let you know what I discover! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 17, 2003 Share Posted May 17, 2003 I just bought the book Just gotta wait for it to arrive now. Thanks for the heads up. As for QCA that *has* to be a fantastic opportunity to knock some ideas around and perhaps even tell them what you think I'm actually very jealous! I'd love to know how things go. I'm looking forward to the start of the next year - I will have lots of Summer birthdays in Year 1, 2 new members of staff and a whole new scheme of work for the first term, Roll on September! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted May 18, 2003 Share Posted May 18, 2003 Glad to be of help! I'm beginning to feel as if I'm going slowly mad, trying to sort out Reception provision that works. I'll certainly let you know what happens at QCA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted May 19, 2003 Author Share Posted May 19, 2003 Hi Susan, I think we'd all like to hide in your briefcase and come along! Do let us know how you get on....you could, of course, bring this website to their attention Best wishes, Helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted May 21, 2003 Share Posted May 21, 2003 Have received today the "draft documents" for the workshop at QCA. Will examine them in more detail next week. Will keep you posted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted May 28, 2003 Author Share Posted May 28, 2003 Hi Tamara, In answer to your query about testing in Wales at the end of the now-extended Foundation Stage, I've just read an article which states that testing at the age of seven has already been scrapped. Yippee! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 As a school we are looking at extending our foundation stage practices into year 2, we currently follow the reception timetable in the beginning of year 1, so the year 1 teachers get the children ready for year 1, not moving a more formal approach down to year r, we follow highscope in our school, with successful implementation in nursery and reception, and well on the way in year 1, the next challenge is to bring this into year 2, allow time for child intiated time in year 2, we are even looking at moving away from the literacy and numeracy hours, after all they are not statutory. I think it can be done and children will enjoy learning again and will learn how to learn, they need the facts but they also need to be able to apply them., Hillbillie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted May 29, 2003 Author Share Posted May 29, 2003 Hi Hillbillie, That's something new....I hadn't realized that the numeracy and literacy hours were not statutory ( I work in a nursery, not school). Is that the case throughout the school or just in Foundation and key Stage 1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mundia Posted May 29, 2003 Share Posted May 29, 2003 I think that the dfee would like everyone to think that literacy and numeracy strategies are compulsory just as most people think that school is. But as long as you can show as a school that your teaching in maths and literacy meets the requirments of the national curriculum and yields good (or better) results (back to league tables again!!!) you dont have to use literacy and numeracy strategies. I know of one school that doesnt and their performance is amazing. But they do have to provide a lot more evidence because they came under a lot of scrutiny from OFSTED initially as what they were doing was not very conventional. I think the dfee sets out to make it difficult to be 'different' . Hillbillie, Id love to know wre you are based as would would very much like to do the same but so far, too much opposition from KS1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 Hi All, Been up to QCA today for the workshop " Mapping links: Foundation Stage to Key Stage 1." Very intersting . Draft materials were generally liked, although some twiddling suggested to get rid of boxes which were seen to be compartmentalising the stages. Draft materials are very much like the Featherstone publication I have and I'll certainly got that out of the cupboard tomorrow. They match / relate Goals to KS Attainment targets and will certainly be useful to me, in understanding where the children are going more specifically and in my role as Literacy Coordinator through FS & KS1. There are lots of people out there, being creative, working thematically and abandoning literacy and numeracy hour structures. Seems to be a feeling that Yr1 were generally very hard done by, which hadn't occured to me before! My message to my Head is certainly going to be that we need to be brave and get on with it. The profiles will add weight to the argument that are chilkdren are not ready for formal learning and we are setting them up for failure if we continue to impose that on them. Hope this helps someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 Year 1 is kind of a trade off - I mean you're 5 years old and the last year you've had nice things like sand and water and role play, and choosing time to use all these things... then suddenly you come back to school and it's all Literacy and Numeracy hours, QCA units and all that writing... it can't be nice for a child. At least in a mixed year class the transition's easier as they can still have some foundation-stage-type time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 4, 2003 Share Posted June 4, 2003 Hi Dizziblondeuk I agree absolutely with your comments about Y1 being a trade off. Last year I was teaching a classs of y1 and the children who were really struggling with lit and num hours were those children who only had 1 term in YR. The sitting down for half an hour for text word andword work was often far beyond their capabilities as was the amount of recording expected.What these children really needed was more opportunities to do emergent writing in role play situations etc,but even with differentiated groups this was impossible in a small classroom. It be great if Y1 could be a transition year, incorperating elements from both foundation and Key Stage 1. This year I am working in a nursery and it's great to see my oldest children begining to write .They are so keen to use their phonic knowledge and just have a go!They write in every area of the nursery ,shopping lists ,food orders ,cards , labelling their models ,they even copy the adults making post it note observations and pretend to make their own ! The foundation approach to teaching and Key Stage 1 just seem polls appart. Anne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 4, 2003 Share Posted June 4, 2003 I currently teach Reception in a small school that normally has a mixed R/Y1. Because my Sept intake was 30, and the Y1s only 20 it was suggested that we had 2 parallel classes of R/Y1. I argued against this, as I really wanted to do a 'proper' Foundation Stage year with Reception, so took on the larger class and we have one pure Reception Class and a Y1 Class. However, we felt strongly about maintaining good links across the classes, and developed a shared planning programme with R and Y1. We follow the same topics, and plan together, using the ELGs as a starting point, and then look closely at skills/learning objectives we want to teach, differentiating up for Y1s. We've dropped QCA schemes (unless they fit perfectly with what we want) and have moved away from rigid Lit and Num. We also make a conscious effort not to be too 'content' driven (in Y1), focussing on skills instead and finding exciting content that matches. The Y1s are doing far more play-based learning this way, which is helped by the fact that we plan together and that the Y1 teacher has lots of Reception experience. We are called the 'Early Years' team, with Y1 firmly in this category. Ofsted were quite happy with this. It's by no means perfect, and has created a bit more work as we can't just follow schemes or use old planning, but it has been an interesting and fun year, which we plan to continue (although I'm pleased to say my 30 reception children are being replaced with just 20, so we'll be the other way round next year!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 5, 2003 Share Posted June 5, 2003 Hi All, I am an Early Years/KS1 co-ordinator - why should foundation stage principles and good practice disappear in Y1 + Y2 ? A suggestion would be to look at the activity areas in nursery + foundation, focusing on activities and learning outcomes, adult roles etc. then how these could be extended across Y1 + Y2 and support the curriculum. Might need a bit of reorganisation and dare I say....finance. It doesn't take long but establishes a clear rationale across the whole phase of learning, building in progression and continuity of approach. It would also be a useful document to share with senior management if they need convincing of the value and importance of a more child centred approach. Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 19, 2003 Share Posted June 19, 2003 I went to visit a school recently where they had extended a child led, active learning ethos from nursery to Year 6, it was great going into a school and seeing year 6 developing their own projects and ideas, they didn't do the literacy and numeracy hours and taught very cross curricular, children in key stage 1 spent a lot of time on child initiated play, I came back very enthused, we are definately going to change our year 2, introduced idea to teaching staff yesterday and all but 1, out of 10, felt it was a good idea, daunting but exciting, I may even be able to look forward to moving from Year R to Year 2. It can be done and with the introduction of the primary strategy, "enjoyment and excellence" then we all need to try it. Hillbillie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 19, 2003 Share Posted June 19, 2003 Hi there Your visit sounds extremely interesting. No one that I know of in this area has been as creative with their curriculum organisation and development ( North East ). Maybe there might be someone out there. Would love to know where you are situated and how you get on with your school initiatives. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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