At the end of key stage 1, your child’s teacher will judge the standard that your child is working at in English, maths and science. To help the teacher make these judgements, your child will sit national curriculum tests in maths and English, known as standard attainment tests (SATs). These tests, along with your child’s work throughout the year, help the teacher to assess your child’s performance and, as they move up to key stage 2, identify their needs. Teachers will ensure that their students are ready to take the tests. There is no need for you to focus on test-related activities at home to prepare your child for the SATs. You should follow any advice given by your child’s teacher about their education throughout the year.

What are the KS1 SATs?

The tests are split into: Reading, Maths and there is an optional Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar paper. The reading test will be split into two different papers and cover fiction, non-fiction and poetry.  In Maths, the children will sit two different papers. The first paper is an arithmetic paper which covers calculation methods for the four operations and the second paper which is a reasoning paper. Some of these questions will require the children to show their working out. The tests will take place during May.

How can I support my child’s learning at home?

There are lots of different ways you can support your child at home. Here are some different ways:

• First and foremost, support and reassure your child that there is nothing to worry about and they should always try their best.

• Ensure your child has the best possible attendance at school.

• Support your child with any homework tasks.

• Reading, spellings and arithmetic (times tables) are always a good thing to practise. 

• Talk to your child about what they have learnt in school and encourage them to explain how to do something.

How can I help my child with reading?

• Focus on developing a life-long love of reading.

• Read regularly rather than one big read once in a while.

• Talk about the story before, after and during reading.

• Look up the definitions of words together as this can help build a wider vocabulary.

• All reading is incredibly valuable (not just stories). Reading can involve any fiction, non-fiction, poetry, magazines, football programmes, TV Guides, etc.

• Visit the local library for books – it is a free and fantastic resource. We have a local library in Tidworth. Please visit the link below for more information about how you can become a member of the local library.

How can I help my child with maths?

• Play times tables games.

• Play mental maths games – including counting forwards and backwards.

• Encourage opportunities for telling the time (both analogue and digital).

• Encourage opportunities for counting coins and money.

• Identify, weight or measure quantities and resources in the kitchen.

• Look for and discuss numbers around in your local area (e.g. on buses, shops, etc.)

• Look for examples of 2D and 3D shapes around the home.

How can I help my child with writing?

• Practise and learn weekly spellings lists.

• Encourage opportunities for writing at home (e.g. letters, shopping lists, recipes).

• Write together and be a role model for writing.

• Remember good readers can become good writers.

• Encourage the use of a dictionary to check spelling.

• Remind them to use capital letters and full stops when writing a sentence.

Resources