key stage 1

Helping KS1 Children With Reading At Home

Literacy expert Gill Matthews, shares some simple, enjoyable ideas for how parents can support their child’s reading comprehension and development at home. You may find this helpful to share with your pupils’ parents or you can adapt the ideas for your home learning plan. Over 300 Collins Big Cat… Read More

The new school year-
the science subject leaders’
to do list

This blog has been written by Jane Turner, Snap Science Series Editor and Director of the Primary Science Quality Mark. Plan your monitoring activity Ask yourself: • How can I find out what is happening with science? • Which areas are strengths to celebrate and which areas need to… Read More
girl enjoying writing

Applying Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation in Writing

Teaching vocabulary, grammar and punctuation for better performance in the VGP key stage tests is important for league tables and inspections, but, for many children, it does little to improve spoken and written language. It’s possible, however, to teach VGP in such a way that it leads to high quality writing, while simultaneously preparing for good grammar test results. Read More

The Traditions of Easter

We all know about Christmas and its origins and have had the Christmas story read to us dozens of times and the same could be said of the Easter story too but do we really know all about the traditions of Easter? Activity One – When is Easter? Suitable for… Read More

Maths – Probability

Even if we don’t recognise it, many of the decisions we make each day are based on probability. Subconsciously, we often question the decisions we make on probability in order to ‘improve’ our chances, sometimes beneficially, at other times not. Activity One – Daily Decisions (suitable for Years… Read More

From Your Valentine: Teaching the meanings of love

Very soon it will be Valentine’s Day when we get the chance to tell a special person that we love them. The story of Valentine’s Day comes from the Roman Christian martyr, St Valentine and using the story is a great way to introduce this series of activities to your… Read More

Christmas Activities for Key Stage 1

Activity One: How Many Christmases Are There? Suitable for: Rec to Year 3  Learning Focus: To understand why some countries celebrate Christmas on different days To know about some of the Christmas traditions from around the world  Ask the children how many Christmases they… Read More

Museums

Why do we have museums and do they have a place in a society where today we can look up everything online – even to the extent of enjoying a virtual tour of some museums. One of the best is that of the Smithsonian in the US. Take a look here… Read More

Traditional Tales

There’s got to be something about traditional tales for they have stood the test of time, hence the term ‘traditional’ but traditional tales are not just about being old, they have elements of traditions in them and in many cases they are used to impart learning or to consolidate or… Read More

Distant Places Matter a Lot

How do children form their ideas about other peoples and countries?  The answer is that they usually draw on a number of different sources. Parents, peers and the mass media will undoubtedly be important influences.  Pictures, videos and stories will feed their imagination.  Many are stimulated by their interest and… Read More