Year 1-2

Year 1

Year 1 is an exciting year for your child. Learning through play continues to be important whilst moving into Key Stage 1. As the year passes, learning becomes more formal, with increased time spent on formal literacy and numeracy activities. Your child is encouraged to develop confidence and focus through all that we do.

Alongside thorough schemes for English and Maths, we follow the International Primary Curriculum, which ensures the children’s learning is creative, thematic and topic-based. The children have weekly lessons in French, Music, Drama, Dance and ICT taught by subject specialists. Year 1 also visit the school library once a week. Relationships Education is taught both as a specific subject and also threaded through all the other subjects and activities of Pre-Prep life.

We ask you to read with your child for 15 minutes each evening.. Starting in the Autumn term, ten spellings will be sent home with your child each week. These spellings should be practised at home and there will be an informal test at school each week. ‘Show and Tell’ takes place weekly, developing your child’s public speaking skills and confidence, as well as the ability to listen well and to ask questions.

Learning beyond the classroom is a vital and much enjoyed aspect of Year 1 life, with trips to the Science Museum and private hire of a London Tour Bus particular highlights. Other favourite moments of the Year 1 calendar include the Book Look, which is an opportunity for your child to show you favourite work and to celebrate progress, and the musical Christmas production show.

Year 2

Year 2 builds on the foundation work of Reception and Year 1, working towards the transition into the Prep School at the end of the Pre-Prep years.

Your child continues to follow a rich programme of literacy and numeracy, with increasing focus on independent learning skills. As well as their dedicated class teachers, Year 2 work each week with subject specialists in PE, ICT, Music, Dance, Drama, French and Art as well as sessions with the Prep School Head of Science.

‘Show and Tell’ is a highlight of our weekly timetable. Once a term, your child is asked to prepare a short presentation about a topic that interests them. The children really enjoy sharing their enthusiasm and learning about the skills and interests of others.

We ask you to read with your child for 20 minutes each evening. Ten spellings will be set each week to be practised at home in preparation for an informal test at school. Times tables will also be set for study: automatic recall of times table facts provides a solid foundation for all Maths learning. One Maths task and one English task will also be set weekly to consolidate skills learned in class. Sometimes we put aside our standard prep requirements and explore project work, poetry learning, book reviews, family surveys and even suggested outings.

Year 2 love to explore London as part of their learning topics and particularly enjoy their trips to the Florence Nightingale Museum and the Science Museum. The annual ‘sleep-under’ where Year 2 get to spend the evening at school with their friends and teachers, and the Summer Concert are other highlights of the Year 2 calendar.