Guest Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 Hi all, I am EYFS teacher in the Year R class of a primary school. Last year (2011-2012) the KS1 staff and I attended a really good 'transition to Year 1 ' project set up by EYFS County advisers. Year R.1 and 2 teachers attended talks; looked at their individual settings; made changes and improvements that would facilitate successful seamless learning, based on the basic principles of the EYFS and then made presentations to all delegeates at the end of the project. My Year 1 teacher, who is also English manager, has just informed me that she has been told by English County advisers that from Septemeber 2013, all Year 1 children must do 30 minutes sustained writing a day. Our Head Teacher would like this done at tables. How would this look for children who have not yet completed the EYFSP and are still working towards achievement of the ELGs? It seems to me that this is just another example of the conflict between what EYFS practitioners are trying to achieve (and believe to be right!) and the pressures on KS1 staff to get children who may have just turned 5 squeezed into the formal learning of the NC and prepared for those dreaded SATS! Any thoughts? I'd be pleased to hear your views on this.
Guest ChunkyMan Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 What I can not get my head around is why teachers/SLT etc continue to believe that formal, sitting at tables will equate to progress etc....why do we keep on trudging down the same path when each time we go down it there are so man potholes which seem to never get filled in!!!!!
Susan Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 They are Advisors only and you dont pay attention to misguided advise do you? Its always been an issue, particularly with FS and Literacy and I was co-ordinator for both in another life! I would suggest your advisors have not spent any time in a yr1 classroom --30 mins sustained writing might be achievable by the end of the year if the children havent been completely turned off by then. Could the message have been misunderstood? 1
Guest Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 I have a mixed Reception and Year One. At the beginning of the year my Y1s (those that were ready) did about 20mins sustained writing. In the Spring term all Y1s did it and about half my Reception. Now in the Summer term all Y1s and three quarters of my Reception. I think it depends on how you do it and the differentiation you put in place. My Rec and lower Y1s started off with a basic sentence to write and adapt. They all enjoy the writing sessions and get annoyed if we have to miss it!
Guest Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 I have a mixed Reception and Year One. At the beginning of the year my Y1s (those that were ready) did about 20mins sustained writing. In the Spring term all Y1s did it and about half my Reception. Now in the Summer term all Y1s and three quarters of my Reception. I think it depends on how you do it and the differentiation you put in place. My Rec and lower Y1s started off with a basic sentence to write and adapt. They all enjoy the writing sessions and get annoyed if we have to miss it!
Guest LornaW Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 Sue is right they are on ly advisors! 30 mins sustained writing per day is pure madness!!!! 30 mins a week by the end of Y1 perhaps but to be honest it will all depend on your children! More sooner is not the way to progress. Look at Julie Fishers's book Moving on to Key Stage One. These may also be useful. LornaW Transitions_matter.pdf NFER Successful transition.pdf
Guest Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 We do big writing throughout school each Where children write independently for a length of time to music. I tend to build up to this by the end of the year in reception so that they can write for about 10-15 mins or so. Last years children loved this big writing time and many children would want to continue for longer. This year my children have needed much more support wiyh writing and so we haven't done big writing in this way yet. Would the 30 minutes a day include the writing that children do in phonics daily? Deb
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