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For grown-ups · Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2)
Free5 min read
What Years 1 and 2 cover, which assessment is statutory (the phonics check) and which are optional (the KS1 tests, since 2023/24), what teacher assessment is, and what expected standard and greater depth mean.
Preview5 min read
The 40-word check in June: real and alien words, the two sections, how the teacher scores it, the threshold announced afterwards (31 in 2026, 32 in every earlier year it was held), who takes it again in Year 2, and what the school tells you.
Preview5 min read
Ten-minute routines that work: sound buttons, blending, try the other sound, alien-word games, tricky words, and reading together without pressure, with a printable grown-up-listens sheet.
Preview5 min read
Number bonds, counting in steps, coins, clocks and shapes with household objects; the common mix-ups to watch for and how to talk about a wrong answer.
Preview5 min read
How the lessons, read-aloud, stars and practice papers work, how much to do each week in Year 1 and in Year 2, and how to use the grown-ups area.