We have compiled a glossary of terms that you may see in our newsletters with their explanations!
Children are entitled to a ‘free’ 15 hours a week Nursery place starting from the term after their 3rd birthday. Depending on when a child is born they could spend up to 5 terms in the Nursery. Children are able to access our Educare service immediately on or after their 3rd birthday.
This is a service which is offered by the school for parents of children in the Nursery. Educare provides further Nursery provision up to the full school day. This can be purchased or accessed through the new additional FREE scheme set up by the Government. Parents need a registration code for this (there is a £3.10 charge however for lunch and care over this time). Further details are available from the School Office. Alternatively Educare is also available at a very competitive cost of £5.00 for the first hour of the afternoon (including lunch) and £3.50 per hour thereafter which is £12.00 for the full afternoon session from 11.50am to 3.10pm. Child care vouchers from employers are also welcomed.
This is the school year after Nursery and before Year 1, the year in which a child has their 5th birthday.
This is the first phase in a child’s educational career and comprises of the Nursery and Reception years. The phase ends with an assessment on your child’s attainment over a number of early learning strands which are reported in the end of Reception report.
This is school Years 1 & 2. There is a nationally standardised test in phonics at the end of Year 1 (repeated in Year 2 if a child doesn’t pass first time) and nationally standardised and locally moderated learning outcomes at the end of Year 2.
This is a specific check on the progress of children in Year 1 in learning how to read. It is called the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check. The check is a list of 40 words that children read one-to-one with the teacher. Some of the words are real words that are likely to be known to the children. Some of the words are non-words which are aimed at helping test whether children are using only their knowledge of letter sounds to build up what the word says (and not other clues). Support for phonics and further information is available in the parent information zone of our web site.
This is school Years 3, 4, 5 & 6. There are ongoing summative assessments throughout these years and at the end of every year. At the end of year 6 the children are nationally tested (known as the SATs):
These take place at the end of Year 2 and Year 6. Results will be reported in the form of raw scores which is the sum of the marks awarded in the test and scaled scores where national data is analysed and the average raw score is awarded ‘100’ which becomes the national average. Other raw scores are then scaled to give a number above or below this to compare outcomes with national averages. In addition the end of year report in these years will show whether or not your child has achieved the nationally expected standard i.e. the outcome as pre-determined by the Government for a 7 year or an 11 year old child, There is a lot of information about assessments and samples of end of year tests in the Revision zone of the web site. You will need log-in details.
Across the school your child will be assessed formatively i.e. as they go along to pinpoint future progress needs. Their assessment levels and progress will be communicated to you each term through the report and parents’ meetings.
