The Primary Years

School's out! Top tips to get a head start in the next year in primary school...

Rachel

Jul 1911 min read

School's out! Top tips to get a head start in the next year in primary school...

School's almost out for summer in the UK. Parents have done the last pile of ironing and started throwing away the old shirts, t-shirts...

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Rachel

Jun 83 min read

What is the Phonic Screening Check?

Alien words - love them or hate them? Why do they exist? In 2012, the Phonic Screening Check was introduced to primary schools for pupils...

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Rachel

Jun 15 min read

Do we need to learn times tables?

With the national Multiplication Tables Check taking place in June for children in year 4 (ages 8-9), we might question the requirement...

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Rachel

Feb 188 min read

The Power of Audiobooks for Children

If there's one small thing a parent or carer can do to help their baby's literacy in future years, it is to provide access to lots of...

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Handwriting hints for supporting young writers

Rachel

May 12, 20236 min read

Handwriting hints for supporting young writers

When I was at primary school, we spent a long time practising handwriting. When I was a new teacher, if children were writing sentences...

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What are the 'common exception words' that children are learning at primary school?

Rachel

Jan 2, 20236 min read

What are the 'common exception words' that children are learning at primary school?

If you have a child in primary school, you may have heard them talking about the common exception words, tricky words or exception words,...

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How can we help children to be good spellers? (With or without school spelling tests!)

Rachel

May 30, 20226 min read

How can we help children to be good spellers? (With or without school spelling tests!)

School spelling tests: love them or hate them? Do you remember spelling tests at school? I'm not really sure I do but for some families,...

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Should parents be worried about Key Stage 1 SATs?

Rachel

Feb 21, 20227 min read

Should parents be worried about Key Stage 1 SATs?

If you have a child in Year 2 at primary school, you may have lots of questions about Key Stage 1 SATs (Standard Attainment Tests) and...

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It's never too early to start writing to Father Christmas!

Rachel

Nov 20, 20215 min read

It's never too early to start writing to Father Christmas!

It's that time of year again when the Christmas ads appear, lights begin to twinkle, and people we meet ask our children what they would...

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Rachel

Jun 7, 20212 min read

Good buys for developing readers

As parents and carers, a key responsibility we have is to pave the way for reading, even if we are not keen readers ourselves. Recently,...

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Can you tell I'm smiling? Are our masks impacting on children's language development?

Rachel

Dec 18, 20203 min read

Can you tell I'm smiling? Are our masks impacting on children's language development?

There's so much more to communicating than just the words we use. Our eyes, facial expressions, gestures, volume and tone all work...

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Rachel

Oct 22, 20202 min read

Tips and tricks for active learners

These are tricky times we live in and things have changed quite considerably for our children at their schools. I've heard so many times...

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Quick and easy games to fill in five minutes to half an hour - some free, some handbag-sized!

Rachel

Jul 14, 20203 min read

Quick and easy games to fill in five minutes to half an hour - some free, some handbag-sized!

Whether you normally look forward to the long summer holidays or you dread them, this year is different in so many ways. We'll be...

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Do we need proper reading books at home?

Rachel

Jun 12, 20202 min read

Do we need proper reading books at home?

Many schools send home reading books from the start of reception and some start a little before. Some schools start later and some don't...

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Wilbur and Flops' essentials for home phonics for children in reception

Rachel

May 28, 20205 min read

Wilbur and Flops' essentials for home phonics for children in reception

It's very likely that, for at least the last half term, your child's teacher has been sending you 'home learning tasks' ranging from a...

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Five ways to sneak language play into your daily walk

Rachel

May 22, 20202 min read

Five ways to sneak language play into your daily walk

It's May 2020 and we've been at home for nine weeks or so. We have a dog and a daily walk is a must for us but, with or without a dog,...

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Rachel

Apr 11, 20203 min read

Developing pencil control at home

"Tommy Thumb, Tommy Thumb, where are you? Here I am, here I am, how do you do?" Peter Pointer, Toby Tall, Ruby Ring and Baby Small, too!...

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Rachel

Nov 14, 20194 min read

'How to' guide: the reading record

Our reception children have been at school for over half a term now and it's very likely that they've been carrying a reading record to...

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