The Ofsted Report: is your child being challenged enough?

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Ellie

In recent news, Ofsted has stated that brighter students are being “systematically failed” by non-selective secondary schools in England. As a parent you are keen for your child to do well and reach their full potential, but what is the best way to go about that? Is it best to leave it to the school? Or would your child benefit from you becoming more involved in their learning?

Research has shown that the more involved parents are, the more successful their children will be at school.
The fact that you, as a parent or carer, are visiting the EdPlace website shows that you are interested in helping your child to achieve the very best that they are capable of and have high aspirations for them.

Your child did not just start learning when they started school. They had been learning for at least four years before that, and that learning came from you; so there is no reason why that should stop when they join the educational system.

In recent years, Ofsted have recognised the importance of how schools engage parents and involve them in the students learning. It is now acknowledged that learning needs to be a three away approach between, the school, the child and the parents or carers.

Ofsted will now not only look at the leadership within schools but also how the school engages parents, as this has been proved to be critical to achieving success.

Research has shown that parental engagement is a key factor in increasing pupils’ achievement and the more involved parents are the more likely their children are to flourish; and that this involvement is beneficial to all children, regardless of background or the parents own attainment. This suggests that just the very act of parents playing a part in their child’s education is enough to boost the confidence of the child.

Some parents may not have had a very positive experience when they were at school and may feel slightly daunted by the prospect of engaging with their child in the very area where they felt uncomfortable. However, participating in your child’s learning doesn’t necessarily require a great academic ability.

Parents who spend time with their children from an early age, and onwards, are helping to develop many skills. Children learn a great deal through play and, if that time is spent with a parent, they will develop their communication skills and phonological awareness i.e. recognising the structure of words, and breaking them down into syllables and different sounds. This will, in turn, help greatly when that child is learning to read and write. Also, basic numeracy skills can be introduced through play and general day to day life. Family outings encourage the whole family to learn together and to try new experiences.

Many studies have been completed which look into the effects of implementing programmes that increase the involvement of families as a whole to a child’s school life.

Once such programme was the FAST programme (Families And Schools Together)
This programme had three main aims:

- to help children to succeed at school by improving behaviour through supporting home/school relationships
- to strengthen families by improving communication and confidence in both the children and their carers
- to strengthen communities

The programme promoted things such as the importance of sharing family meals, communication games, different groups of parents talking to each other and providing peer support, promoting one to one time with children and arranging meeting between parents and schools.

There were many positive outcomes of this programme, such as:

- the improvement of parent/child relationships by 19%
- 78% of families reported a better understanding of their children resulting in less family conflict
- 88% of parents felt more able to support their children
- conduct problems reduced by 39%
- emotional problems reduced by 40%

On the whole, it would seem that parental engagement plays a major part in enhancing – amongst other things – behaviour, attendance and attainment.

Children whose parents are more involved are proven to be more likely to succeed at school and approach school with a positive outlook. They are less likely to feel isolated and more likely to feel supported and this can go a long way to boosting self esteem, which when aspiring to reach you full potential is half the battle.

So, back to the original question. What is the best way to go about helping your child achieve their best at school?
Well as mentioned before, the very fact that you are reading this shows that you are already involved in your child’s learning and this can be built upon over the summer holidays.

By Claire Fisher

Understanding National Curriculum Levels

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Ellie

What are the National Curriculum levels?

If you have school-aged children you have probably received end of year reports giving their National Curriculum levels, but you may not be sure what these levels signify. What does it mean if a child is Level 3A in maths? Is it better or worse than 3C? Why is your child at one level for reading but at a different level for writing? For people not directly involved in the education system, the National Curriculum levels can seem very confusing. This guide aims to explain what the levels are and how they relate to an individual child’s progress.

National Curriculum levels are used to compare a child’s ability against national standards of achievement. They are used in Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 for English, maths and science. Each level is divided into three sub-levels, with A at the top end and C at the lower end, so Level 1C is the lowest and Level 8A the highest.

On average, it takes a child two years to progress through each level, and government expectations are for children to reach the levels shown in the table below:

Year 2 (age 7)	Level 2
Year 4 (age 9)	Level 3
Year 6 (age 11)	Level 4
Year 9 (age 14)	Level 5 or 6

The levels are a statement of a child’s achievement across all aspects of a subject. For example, to achieve a particular level in writing, a child must demonstrate ability in grammar, spelling and punctuation as well as creative writing.

How are the levels determined?

National Curriculum levels are determined by a mixture of testing and teacher assessment. In state primary schools children take Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) in English and maths at the end of Years 2 and 6. Pupils used to sit SATs in science, too, but their achievement in this subject is now assessed by the class teacher. Primary schools are required to inform parents of their child’s National Curriculum levels in reading, writing, maths and science at the end of Years 2 and 6. Many schools also carry out optional SATs at the end of Years 3, 4 and 5 and may put these grades on their pupils’ end of year reports; however, this is not compulsory.

In Key Stage 3, pupils sit SATs in English, maths and science at the end of Year 9, and levels are reported to parents. Again, a number of schools sit optional SATs in years 7 and 8 and may report these levels to parents.

What are the implications of the levels for an individual child?

While the table above shows average achievement by pupils, it is not uncommon for a child to be working at Level 5 at the end of primary school and a small number of children even achieve Level 6. Again, by the end of Year 9, some children are working at Level 7 with a few achieving Level 8.

On the other hand, your child may leave primary school below Level 4 and may never reach Level 6, let alone Levels 7 or 8, but this should not imply that he or she has underachieved. Every child is different, and it is important not to worry too much about how your child compares with others. What matters for children is that they are progressing as well as they can, and for a child who has struggled to read for years, reaching Level 3C in Year 6 could be a major achievement.

It is important to remember that children are not machines, and will not progress at a uniform rate. It is quite common for a child to appear to ‘plateau’ for a while and then suddenly go up a level; this should not be a cause for concern.

Children have different strengths and weaknesses, and are often working at one level in one subject and at another level in a different subject. In English there are separate levels for reading and writing, and it is common for children to be working at a higher level in reading than writing.

All this may still seem very confusing, and if you are concerned about the implications of the National Curriculum levels, or that your child is not working at the level you would expect, then the best thing to do is to talk to the school. It could be that your child would benefit from extra support, but it could equally be the case that he or she is already achieving as well as possible and there is nothing to worry about.

By Sue Davison

Revision Made Easy: The Easter Holidays

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Ellie

Is your child due to sit exams after Easter? Are you unsure of how best to help them revise? Whether you’re completely lost or just looking for some tips on how to help your child prepare for their exam, this is the guide for you.

You will no doubt be keen for your child to do their best, whether they are taking the unofficial tests in Year 2 or Secondary School or the official SATs in Year 6; the assessments are a fair indication of how they are doing at school and whether there are any areas that they need help with as they proceed with their school career.

CHAPTER 1:

Help with Revision

Any help that you can give your child to revise topics covered already during their school years will help to increase their levels and ultimately boost their confidence. It is also important for them to feel that you are part of the process too, especially during the early years.

Year 2

As mentioned above, the assessments in Year 2 are a lot more informal than the tests in Year 6, and your child may not even know that they are being assessed. This is the ideal way, at this age, to assess children’s progress – you are more likely to get a more accurate picture of their ability without the pressure of ‘test stress’ tainting the result. The children sometimes go through the whole process without even the mention of the word ‘test’ and can be completely unaware that they have been assessed.

So for younger children, it is best to keep revision this way too.

The most effective and fun way to do this would be to take advantage of online resources. There are websites featuring revision activities which, if approached in the right way (for example, if used as a ‘treat’), your child will see as entertaining games. Particularly if some sort of reward system is put in place for progress made.

There are also plenty of activity books available for Key Stage 1 that are set out as puzzle books, and younger children will love completing these with a parent or other relative or friend.

Year 6

The official Year 6 SATS tests are less likely to go unnoticed. The children are normally fully aware that they have some important tests coming up and that they will be the culmination of their 4 years in Key Stage 2, so helping your child to revise for these tests will help them to feel more confident and fully supported.

Even when older, it is good to remember that children learn better when they are comfortable. If you know your child is the type who enjoys spending time on the computer then let this be the main source of revision. Some children may prefer to try some of the many revision guides that are available to buy.

All of these resources are set out in a child friendly manner, but that doesn’t mean they will appeal to every child. Different children learn in different ways, and sometimes even the same child might prefer different techniques at different times, depending on their mood or just to keep things fresh. The main thing is to offer support throughout their revision and to keep sessions short. You know your child best, and if ten minutes here and there is all they can manage, then so be it.

You also need to bear in mind that they will have spent all day at school through the week, so if it becomes a struggle, keep revision for the weekends, but mix it up with plenty of free time and trips out; even just a walk to the shop, or having a friend round for a while, just to break the time up.

During the week when homework is completed, even if they don’t feel like sitting down to revision, there is no harm in practising times tables and number bonds. These are both key skills that, when they become second nature to children, have enormous benefits in all maths tests; particularly the mental maths paper.

So, when you’ve decided which form of revision works best for your child, sit down with them and, if possible, ensure there are no distractions. This isn’t always easy in a busy household, particularly with other children around, but even a few snatched moments with parental support will be of great benefit. And then maybe, when they are settled on an activity you can leave them for a while, checking when you can that they are happy and on task.

During the maths revision, particularly if working on the computer, it is handy to have some scrap paper for working out on. Marks are awarded in the tests for working a problem out correctly, even if the final answer is incorrect. So, encouraging your child to clearly set out how they arrived at an answer may gain them points in the test, aside from the fact that it is much easier to work things out having written them down as you go. Even in the mental maths, they will be allowed to do some working out on the paper if time allows. The calculator test also asks for the function entered into the calculator to be shown, so this is a good habit to get into.

The revision for the KS2 tests can also take a slightly more formal approach as the test dates near, but once more, there is nothing to be gained from a child getting anxious and the most important thing to remember is not to put pressure on them.

Once you feel your child is ready, you can try sitting down with them and working through a practice paper. It is good for your child to get a feel for what they will look like, get used to the time allowed, and generally familiarise themselves with the whole process. The papers that are available to buy are generally supplied with instructions on how to administer the tests. Make sure they have all the necessary equipment, particularly for the maths papers. They will need a sharp pencil, a ruler, a rubber, a protractor, a small mirror with straight edges if possible, and some tracing paper (greaseproof paper is a good substitute for this!)

At first, it might be worth doing one of the tests while you are sitting with your child, so that you are there to answer any questions and also so that you are familiar with the papers and the types of questions asked so that you can bear this in mind for future revision.

Remind them that they are not expected to answer every single question. If they come across a question that they are really stuck on, the best thing is to move on to the next. In the time spent trying to work out one tough problem, they could have gained a few extra points doing two or three other questions easily. They can always come back to any they have missed at the end of the paper if there is time left.

For children with learning difficulties, your child’s school may have made arrangements for extra help during the tests. They may be allowed a scribe for some of the tests, so that an adult writes down exactly what your child says. So it is worth checking to see if the school have felt it would benefit your child to make these provisions, then you can also do the same for them during practices.

It is important to remember when marking any practice papers that your child does, that no child is expected to get 100%. The overall score of the test gives your child a level. There is no ‘pass mark’ so you are just encouraging your child to do the most that they are capable of. For some, this may mean a score of just 20%, a child with learning difficulties could be a bit lower, but that is purely because that is the level that they have reached at that particular subject. There are no ‘fails’ in these tests. No qualifications are gained from them. There will be no retakes if levels are low. They are just to help the schools assess which level your child is working at on a particular subject.

The practice papers should come with a guide to help work out a level from their raw score. If you are concerned that the level your child is reaching is lower than the expected average, speak to their teacher, who may be able to let you know that this is in fact the level they would generally expect them to get and maybe give you some pointers as to how you could both work together to help to get that level up a few notches.

CHAPTER 2:

Easter Holidays

The Easter holidays are the last holidays before primary school children sit their SATS tests in Year 6. Assessments are also carried out in other years, so it is the ideal time to encourage some revision.

Key Stage 1

Completing some online activities is a great way to encourage revision without the child becoming agitated about having to do ‘school work’ during the holidays.

Rather than leaving the child to sit at a computer alone doing the activities, it is much more beneficial for them to have help at hand when needed, and also for you to discover which areas may need more input from you. Start with Year 1 activities and build these up to a level at which they feel comfortable and then try some that challenge them a bit if you think they are ready.

But families can be very busy and if time is at a premium, there are many activities that can be worked on alone and this will also be of great benefit to your child.

Helping them work out basic maths problems when shopping or just getting them used to what coins are needed to pay for items when shopping is a subtle way of doing some revision, as is asking them to do a small piece of writing for you. It may just be a diary account of a day out or a thank you letter to a relative for an Easter present.

Key Stage 2

The dedicated websites are also a good place to start for Year 6 children too. There are many activities to choose from and children respond well to the games that they are playing and sometimes forget that they are actually revising. Again, it would be beneficial if they could have some support from an adult whilst working through the tasks, even if this means mum, dad or a carer; just spending time in the same room so that they are on hand to answer any questions when they get stuck.

EdPlace has a vast range of interactive worksheets that are the ideal place to start revision. It might be worth beginning with worksheets a couple of years below their current year so that they can complete these confidently and then move on. If they are finding these a bit difficult, move down another year. This is revision after all. The tests will cover most subjects they have learnt right from year 3, so it is a good idea to go over those years too.

The questions on the SATS papers will switch between low level questions and more complex, to test children working at the higher levels; so getting used to completing the simpler activities will help ensure a confident start to the test.

However, when the children return to school after the Spring break, the tests will only be a matter of weeks away and will take a very different form to computer games!

So, the holidays are a good time to get some practice papers and familiarise your child with the layout, time allowed for each test and exactly what will be asked of them. It is a good idea to keep these practices fairly low key. You want your child to do their best, but a fraught brain is not one that can realise its full potential. Have a go at papers for all subjects and see how they get on, but remember it is the holidays and children need a break as much as adults do.

Try and limit the amount of practice papers to what you know your child can cope with. Most of them are completed in under an hour so are maybe something that can be done in the morning while other members of the family make the preparations for an afternoon out, or maybe with the promise of a visit from friends later in the day.

Revision doesn’t have to all be based around worksheets and practice papers though. There are many opportunities during everyday life to work on things that are likely to come up in the tests.

Maths problems are all around us. Fractions can be talked about when cutting up cakes or pizzas, or multi step problems when dividing up eggs for an Easter egg hunt. E.g. “I have bought 4 packs, each containing 6 chocolate eggs. How many will I have all together? When I share them out equally between you and 4 friends, how many will be left over?”

The English writing tests can cover all manner of topics. They might be asked to design a leaflet for a visitor attraction, or write a persuasive argument about recycling in their town. Look out for these kinds of pieces of writing and discuss what makes them effective.

CHAPTER 3:

Where to Find Resources

It is worth you or your child asking their teacher if there is any particular equipment they need for the tests. Most primary schools will provide all that is necessary but they may ask to make sure children have a calculator and a well-stocked pencil case.

Secondary school children are usually encouraged to be a little more independent and if they haven’t already got one, a scientific calculator is a good investment.

All items they are likely to need are widely available from larger newsagents and supermarkets.

If you decide it is a good idea to get hold of some past SATS papers for Year 6 children, there are plenty available online. Be sure to order them early as parents across the country will be thinking the same! If you have trouble finding some, speak to your child’s school. They may be able to help out. They are just as keen for your child to do well as you are.

Revision guides are also available online and in larger newsagents. Take your child with you so that they can be involved in choosing them too. Some of the discount online book companies do packs of revision guides that may work out cheaper than buying them individually.

And finally, online activities. EdPlace has a wide variety of interactive worksheets available right here on our site. We cover English, Maths and Science and have been developed by our qualified teachers. The worksheets are based on the National Curriculum, so you can be pretty confident that if your child has covered it at school we have a worksheet for it!

The worksheets are split into the different subjects and then into years so you can easily choose an area that you know needs more revision and the year group that suits them best. Remember, it can be a good idea to start a little lower for an initial confidence boost and then work your way up until they are fully prepared for what may lie ahead.

Is your child sitting the Year 6 SATs exams after Easter? We have just posted a set of the new SATs English test papers, for your child to practice on. They’re a great way of assessing what level your child is at and pin-pointing any areas that may need further revision. Click here to have a look!

In the next post on the blog we will give you tonnes of tips on how to prepare you child for their exams; including how to keep their confidence up, what they will need for the exams and the best way to behave on the day. Keep your eyes peeled for the next installment!

Written by Claire Fisher

The Eleven Plus: An Introduction

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Ellie

Is your child due to sit the Eleven Plus this year? Are you looking to find some more information on the exam? Well, this guide is designed for you. It’s packed with all the information you need; with descriptions of what the exam entails and list of counties where the exam is used, enabling you to find information that is specific to your child.

HISTORY

The Eleven Plus exam was introduced in 1944 when the three-part system of secondary schools was created; Secondary Technical schools, Secondary Modern schools and Grammar schools. It was put in place to ensure that there would be a secondary school suitable for each individual pupil’s needs; with the Eleven Plus being used to determine which children would be better suited to the ‘elite’ grammar school system.
To this day, some Local Education Authorities (LEA) still offer grammar school education and, therefore, still use the Eleven Plus exam as a way of selecting those most suitable to attend these schools.
Children living in these areas will be given the opportunity to sit the exam during Year 6 (their final year at primary school).

EXAM STRUCTURE

The exam itself is split into four papers. This is a generic guide and may differ from one LEA to another but, generally, they follow a similar format:

1. Verbal Reasoning
The verbal reasoning tests are short tasks used to test a child’s vocabulary and also maths skills. They are likely to be based mainly around words but also numbers. However, a brilliant vocabulary and grasp of maths skills are not the only tools required to complete these tasks confidently.
The child is also tested on their logical deduction skills, by way of making sense of codes, for example. This is all designed to test the natural level of intelligence of the child and not just those skills that can be learned.
The tests may include exercises such as:

- Finding two words from a group that are the closest in meaning
- Finding a word in a sentence that is hidden between two words, e.g. the ending of one word and the beginning of the following word go together to form a new word.
- Finding words in a sentence that have the opposite meaning
- There may also be words that are formed by way of a code, which may include letters and numbers, and the child would need to crack the code to provide the answer

2. Non-Verbal Reasoning
These tasks also require logic, but are more based around shape, pattern and sequences. They will test the child’s spatial awareness and ability to process graphic information and will require more understanding of rotation and symmetry. They are not taught widely in schools but are more used as an aptitude test, and the skills needed to solve the problems are all integral to general learning.
The non-verbal test, which is normally a multiple choice format, may have tasks such as:

- Looking at a sequence of shapes and deciding which shape should come next in the sequence
- Looking at some shapes that have been rotated in a particular order and choosing the next shape following the rotation order
- Looking at a pattern and selecting the correct answer, from a selection, that shows that pattern correctly reflected

3. Mathematics
The maths test will obviously require a good understanding of general maths. The topics covered in the test follow the same structure as those learned through Key Stage 2.
It will probably be the test that most children will ‘feel at home with’ as they will have, no doubt, had numerous maths tests of a similar nature during their primary school years.
Some of the concepts that children need to be familiar with are (click on the links to see our worksheets in that topic):

- Four basic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
- Time
- Money
- Metric system
- Fractions
- Decimals
– Prime numbers
- Graphs
- Ratio
- Problem solving

4. English
This is the paper that will probably vary the most between regions. Some are only used in the appeal process, and others are taken as part of the whole exam.
The paper could consist of a comprehension exercise, where the child is required to read a text and then answer questions about that text and meanings of words in it. This will provide evidence that although they may be proficient readers, they also have a good understanding of what they are reading.
There may also be an essay, or short story exercise; the child being given a subject matter or style of writing in which they should write.
Other English papers may include a selection of tasks such as (click on the links to see our worksheets in that topic):

- Punctuating sentences appropriately
- Ordering words alphabetically
- Putting words in the correct order to form a sentence
- Inserting words, from a bank of words, where they have been omitted in a sentence

To be successful in these papers, the child will have a vocabulary that is appropriate for their age, a basic knowledge of grammar and sentence structure and be able to engage the reader with an interesting piece of writing.

AREAS USING 11+ EXAM

As mentioned before, grammar schools now only exist in a few Local Education Authorities around the country, so only schools within those regions will invite children to sit the eleven plus exam. The pass grades also vary between authorities and, indeed, from year to year. A general rule of thumb seems to be that a pass mark would be in the region of 115-125. The ‘raw’ score, i.e. the number of questions the child answered correctly, is also weighted in accordance to the child’s age at the time of the test, and a ‘standardised’ score is given. The top say, 15-20% of children may be then offered a place at a grammar school. This figure is in accordance to how many places are available at grammar schools in the area that year. Although, if some of these places are not taken up, the places will then be offered to next highest scoring children.
To comfortably pass the exam, your child should be looking to achieve an 80-90% score on the different papers.
To find out more detailed information about the exam in your area, the best place to look would be on the relevant page of that LEA website.
Click here to find a list of links to the authorities that still have grammar schools in their area and links to the appropriate page where you can find out more about selecting the correct school for your child and what the process involves.

In the next chapter, you will be given tips and tricks on how to help your child prepare for the exam and how to revise for the different elements that they will be tested on.

Written by Claire Fisher

Home Education made simple: all you need to know, with Eddie’s Guides

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Ellie

Making the decision to either take your children out of school or to home educate them from the off can be daunting, and it is important to have as much information as possible before you start the process.

As a result, we’ve created this essential guide, with all the information you will need. There’s information on how to get started, advice on the importance of structure and creativity, and guidelines on lesson focus and planning.
You can also have a look at our Helpful Links page, for links to all of the County Councils in England, exam boards and major home education bodies.

We have many parents who use our site as part of their home education programme. The National Curriculum based nature of our worksheets means your children are learning the appropriate material for their age and ability. When used alongside a separate home education programme, EdPlace will add variety to your children’s learning, as well as helping you by monitoring their progress as they go.

Download and print the document for free and start your home schooling journey:

Eddie's Guides: Home Education by EddieEdPlace

Get your kids excited about 2013!

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Ellie

Happy New Year! We hope you are as excited as we are about all that this year has to offer. To get your kids excited for 2013, why not ask them to write a poem about the coming year? Alternatively, download our Months of the Year Quiz, to test their knowledge and get them prepared for the year ahead.

The aptly named The Months, by Sara Coleridge, is a beautiful poem. Why not ask your children to write their own version, including their favourite things about each month? You could even have a go at writing one yourself!

Here is Sara Coleridge’s poem:

The Months Poem

Here is a little quiz on the months of the year. Test your children’s knowledge on the the seasons, the number of days in individial months and other bits of trivia:

Months of the Year Quiz

And here are the answers!

Answers

Now, here’s one for the Maths whizzes amongst you; a tricky little challenge for your older children. They must make as many counting numbers as they can using only the digits of 2013. The snag is that they can only use each digit once… Good luck!
2013 Maths Challenge

And here are the answers! Did your kids get any further than us?

Answers

…we’ve continued to toil over this in the EdPlace office, and have come up with another solution for the number 25: 30 ÷ 1.2

Let us know if you can come up with any more!

A very happy new year from Eddie and the EdPlace team!

Keep your kids busy with ChristMATHS fun!

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Ellie

Have you found yourself struggling for ideas to keep your children engaged and entertained over Christmas? Do they spend too much time watching TV or playing video games? Or, perhaps, are you looking for some activities to do together as a family on those snuggly Winter evenings? Here at EdPlace, we believe that the festive period is an excellent time to incorporate learning into having fun.

Our Maths teacher has created some ChristMATHS worksheets, which combine your favourite festive folk with fun Maths quizzes and activities. For example, why not use our “Make a Star” worksheet to create some star decorations to add to your tree? Or ask your children to help you make a Christmas cake, where they must work out the quantities for double or triple the amount of cake! We’ve also created a worksheet based on the Twelve Days of Christmas, which will test your children on their counting and word problem solving abilities.

There are plenty of things that you can do with your children to help make the Christmas period a more educational and engaging time, so why not have a look at our Festive Fun worksheets and click on the underlined links above each one to download them:

Try this easy one to begin with – challenge your little ones with a quiz on Santa and his “Mathemagical” Reindeer. There is also a quiz based on the Twelve Days of Christmas song, so why not have a sing-a-long as well!

Mathemagical Reindeer and the 12 Days of Christmas

This one is a bit more difficult – our Christmaths Quizzes. Ask your children to solve these scenarios involving Santa, Rudolf and all of their favourite festive folk – as well as working out the answers to word problems and counting questions.

Christmaths Quizzes

Take a look at these slightly trickier ones for your older children. They must work out the Christmas Tree Number Puzzle and a “Solve the Clues” problem. There’s also an arts and crafts activity here, so why not sit down with your children and have a competition to see who can make the best star to go on the tree?

Tricky Puzzles and Dazzling Star Activity

Here are the answers!

Answers

Merry Christmas from the EdPlace team!

Article Two – Sunday Times Top Primary Schools

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Ellie

Yesterday, we posted a blog after the Sunday Times published their list of the top 400 state and primary schools. To view the full list, subscribe to The Times by following this link: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/Parent_Power/

Here is a list of the top 10 State Primary Schools:

Ranking	School	KS2, Level 4 Aggregate
1	South Farnham School, Farnham, Surrey	300
2	Manor Primary School, Coseley, Wolverhampton	300
3 =	Oakridge Primary School, Stafford	300
3 =	Our Lady and St Werburgh’s RC, Newcastle under Lyme	300
5	St John’s C of E VA Combined School, Lacey Green, Princes Risborough	300
6	Bentley Primary School, Farnham, Surrey	300
7	The Blue School C of E Primary, Isleworth	300
8 =	St Hubert’s Catholic Primary School, Oldbury, Sandwell	300
8 =	Newton Farm Nursery, Infant and Junior School, Harrow	300
10	Our Lady of the Rosary RC VA Primary School, Bristol	300

(The rankings are based on results for schools in England taking Sats at Key Stage 2, level 4, and on the number of eligible pupils, from 2009 to 2011.)

Here is the list of the top 10 Independent Preparatory Schools:

Ranking	School	Gender	KS2, Level 5 Aggregate
1	The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School, Elstree	Boys	685
2	Notting Hill and Ealing High School Junior School GDST, London	Girls	677
3	The Lady Eleanor Holles School Junior Department, Hampton Hill	Girls	671
4	Guildford High Junior School	Girls	656
5	James Allen’s Preparatory School, London	Girls	651
6	Holy Cross Preparatory School, Kingston, Kingston upon Thames	Girls	639
7	Royal Grammar School Newcastle, Junior School, Newcastle upon Tyne	Mixed	632
8	Nottingham High Junior School	Boys	619
9	The Froebelian School, Leeds	Mixed	607
10	Nottingham Girls’ High School Junior School	Girls	594

(These rankings are based on results for schools in England taking Sats at Key Stage 2, level 5, and on the number of eligible pupils, from 2009 to 2011. Pupils at many leading prep schools no longer take Sats)

ALL INFORMATION: COURTESY OF THE SUNDAY TIMES

EdPlace Promotion:

Here at EdPlace, we ran a promotion off the back of this list being published. For 50% off an EdPlace subscription, please follow this link: http://www.edplace.com/sundaytimes Enter the code “STHALFPRICE” in the ‘code’ box on the sign up form to get your discount. But hurry, the offer ends on the 8th December 2012!

Sunday Times – top 100 Primary schools

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Patrick

Have a look in the Sunday Times today (or online) and you can find out the top 300 state primary schools and top 100 independent preparatory schools.

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/Parent_Power/

Might find a cheeky promotion for edplace.com in there too….

Home Schooling Advice (Article three of three): Teaching at Home

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Nick

Once you’ve mapped your curriculum for a year’s home teaching and you know you can provide a seamless start-to-finish module of learning, you need to focus on how to actually deliver learning in each session.
This article is an overview on how to facilitate learning, and here I will just focus on a few basic principles.

Basic Principles:

As mentioned in the last article, learners of all ages learn through doing. It is essential that, for effective teaching to happen, the tasks that children are set must be active. This doesn’t necessarily mean running around, but any lessons that centre solely on teacher activity is most likely to be a complete waste of time. Resist the urge to be the ‘sage on the stage’, to stand in front of your learners and read from a book, or tell them all the things you know; it won’t go in, or if it does, it will be remembered in a superficial way.
Instead, think of the brain as a natural problem solving machine. The brain loves problems and actually grows as it is faced with them. If you are in any doubt, look how popular children’s puzzle books, crosswords, word searches or simple games of hide and seek are.
So, all lessons should focus around pupil activity, and all lessons should present the pupil with a stimulating challenge. If you are home schooling more than one child, this is an advantage, because children can then collaborate with one another to work out an answer to the question or challenge.

Lesson Structure:

A simple structure for your lesson might look something like this (I am a history teacher so I am going to use a history lesson):

1) Lesson Starter (10 Minutes): This is a short, fun, active introduction to the lesson that is related to the topic. If you were teaching about the Norman Conquests to Key Stage Three learners, perhaps an appropriate type of exercise would be to give them a mixed up series of cards with key events from the historical narrative, which need to be quickly re-arranged into the right order, with the pupils arguing why their version of events is right.

2) Main Exercise (30-40 Minutes): Now you have got your child switched on, focused and engaged, you are into your window of peak learning, which is about half an hour to forty minutes. This time is precious, so don’t clog it up with too much talk, you need to give the learner a sufficient amount of information in a handout, book, DVD or website so they have knowledge from which to learn, but you aren’t so much driving towards filling them with facts as teasing out a judgement or evaluation. Your lesson needs to have a key question, such as ‘Why did William win at the Battle of Hastings?’ or ‘What were the consequences of William’s victory for England?’, otherwise it is just a process of chewing through facts, and if your learner doesn’t find that boring, you will!

3) Plenary Session (5-10 Minutes): A plenary session is where you assess whether the learning has been effective, and it’s a nice conclusion to the lesson that gives the learner a sense of resolution. In this last ten minutes, try not to ask ‘did you understand that?’, as most learners will try to please their teacher by saying yes, even if they didn’t. Instead, you need to coax the learner into ‘teaching’ you; by asking them bigger questions that ascertain what meaning or conclusions they can draw from the lesson, you’ll know how much learning really happened.

Helpful Links:

For some brilliant lesson ideas, click here for Paul Ginnis’s ‘Teachers Toolkit’. Alternatively, there are many websites to help you with home education and provide any extra information that you may need; such as Education Otherwise, the Home Education Advisory Service and DirectGov.

Click here for the Department for Education Primary National Curriculum and here for the Secondary National Curriculum.

Here are all of the different exam boards for Key Stage 3 and 4 and above – visit their Private Candidate sections to find out how to enter your children for exams: AQA, EdExcel, OCR and CIE. Click here for a list of their relevant contact details.

For websites which will provide you with content to assist you in your home education, look no further than EdPlace.com! Our worksheets are used by many parents as part of their home schooling.

Let this article be just the very beginning of your journey into understanding teaching practice; it’s a fascinating area and very rewarding to understand.