Our Key Stage 1 classes are: 

Bluebell - Year 1 

Teachers: Beth Ditchfield and Helen Jordan

Buttercup - Year 1/2

Teachers: Olivia Edmond

Clover - Year 2 

Teachers: Marie McGuinness

Across Key Stage 1, children build on the strong foundations developed in Reception and become increasingly confident and independent learners. Our curriculum is carefully planned so that children know more, remember more and are well prepared for the next stage of their learning. 

What will my child learn? 

Children follow our planned curriculum for their year group. You can find full details of what is taught through our main Curriculum pages. 

Teachers adapt lessons according to what children already know and what they need to learn next. This means that classes will not always look identical, but expectations and curriculum progression remain clear across the year group. 

Weekly timetables 

You can view an example weekly timetable for each class below. 

Timetables give a useful overview of a typical week but may change when we have trips, visitors, special events or other opportunities in school. 

Learning in Year 1 

The move from Reception into Year 1 is an important transition. 

Children do not move overnight from the way they learn in Reception into a completely different style of learning. At the beginning of Year 1, we continue to use carefully planned continuous provision alongside direct teaching. 

Continuous provision gives children opportunities to practise, apply and deepen learning that has already been taught. It also supports independence, communication, problem solving and purposeful practice. 

It is not free time. Activities, areas and resources are chosen deliberately and adults use them to support learning, observe children and provide focused teaching where appropriate. 

As the year progresses, teachers gradually adjust the balance between direct teaching, guided learning, purposeful provision and independent work. This reflects the curriculum being taught and children’s growing independence. 

Phonics and early reading 

Phonics and early reading remain a major priority in Key Stage 1. 

Children follow our agreed systematic phonics programme and teachers regularly assess what they can read securely and what they need to learn next. 

Children have regular opportunities to practise reading and develop fluency, vocabulary and understanding alongside their phonics learning. 

You can find more information about phonics and early reading on our English page. 

Year 1 Phonics Screening Check 

Children in Year 1 take the national Phonics Screening Check during the summer term. 

The check helps schools understand whether children have learned the phonics knowledge expected by the end of Year 1. Children read a short selection of real words and pseudo-words using the sounds they have been taught. 

The check is completed individually with a familiar adult and is designed to feel similar to the phonics work children already do in school. 

Parents and carers receive their child’s result after the check. Where a child needs further support, phonics teaching continues so that they can build secure reading foundations. 

Find out more about the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check

How does Buttercups work? 

Our starting principle is simple: 

Buttercups does not have a separate or reduced “Year 1/2 curriculum”. 

Year 1 children in Bluebell and Buttercups work through our intended Year 1 curriculum.

Year 2 children in Buttercups and Clover work through our intended Year 2 curriculum. 

This does not mean that lessons must look identical in different classrooms. Teachers may use different explanations, examples, texts, resources, questions or activities because effective teaching responds to the children in front of them. 

What should remain consistent is the ambition, intended knowledge and progression of the curriculum. 

A useful way to think about this is: 

The mixed class therefore brings two curriculum pathways together within one classroom. It does not create a third pathway between Year 1 and Year 2.

Does Year 1 and Year 2 always learn separately in Buttercups? 

The organisation of teaching depends on what children are learning. 

There are times when Year 1 and Year 2 children can learn very effectively together. They might share a story, discussion, vocabulary activity, historical enquiry, scientific investigation or wider curriculum experience. The teacher can then adjust explanations, questions, support and expectations appropriately. 

At other times, the curriculum is sufficiently different that children need focused teaching for their year group. Mathematics is a particularly good example. Some mathematical concepts build directly on earlier knowledge and should not be artificially combined simply because children share a classroom. 

How we develop our curriculum 

We regularly review how our curriculum is taught so that it works well for the children in front of us. 

This does not mean that children are taking part in an experimental or temporary curriculum. The content children need to learn remains clearly planned. 

What we continually improve is how we teach it. This might include refining the use of continuous provision, adapting resources, improving how lessons are organised or changing how children practise and apply what they have learned. 

Leaders look at children’s work, assessment and classroom practice across Key Stage 1 so that we can identify what is working well and where anything needs to improve. 

How do we know children are making progress? 

Teachers assess children throughout their learning through discussion, observation, their work and planned assessments. 

Across Key Stage 1, teachers and leaders also work together to check expectations and progression. 

For example, we can look at Year 1 learning across Bluebell and Buttercups and Year 2 learning across Buttercups and Clover. This helps us make sure that children are receiving the right level of teaching and challenge wherever they are taught. 

Find out more 

If you would like to know more about what your child is learning, please speak to their class teacher. 

You can also explore our full curriculum through the Curriculum section of the website.