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Abilities in year 2 of primary.

21 replies

Raggsy · 02/04/2018 13:48

We're moving to the UK this year, and my son will be joining year 2 of primary school (he turned 6 early this year).

I was wondering what sort of ability that children are expected to have at that time in maths and english (reading/writing etc), since these are the two subjects that'll have the greatest influence on all his other topics.

Don't need to know about where gifted children are, and what they are capable of, just what is expected within a normal range of ability at the start of year 2, so that I can try and prepare my son as best as possible for his first proper school year (he's been in the equivalent of kindergarten up until now, with no formal teaching for maths or language skills).

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Norestformrz · 02/04/2018 13:58
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speakfriendandenter · 02/04/2018 14:00

Try looking up the end of key stage 1 objectives. They will show working towards, expected and greater depth. There are objectives for reading, writing & maths. They break down what the children need to be able to do to achieve the expected level for end of year 2. Depending on where your son is studying it may vary quite a lot with what he does now. Have you already got a school place for year 2 in September? Smile

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shouldHAVEcouldHAVE · 02/04/2018 14:05

DD is in YR2 and I work in YR3 and there is a massive range of ability. Some children can read fluently and can comprehend what they’re reading, others are still using phonics to sound out words. They learn about adjectives, verbs, adverbs.

Maths- DD has been learning about money, fractions (1/2, 3/4, (1/3, etc), number bonds feature heavily so I would definitely work on those up to 10 and then 20.

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Raggsy · 02/04/2018 14:06

Thank you for the link Norestformrz I'll take a look.

SFAE, I was told last year that since he'll be effectively joining an already established year group, we don't start the application until this month (even that's early, but not overly early as such).

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anxious2017 · 02/04/2018 14:08

There's too much of a range really to say.

Some of my year 2s are still on basic phonics, some are reading novels. Some are working on number bonds to 10, some are adding decimals.

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Raggsy · 02/04/2018 14:11

Would you be at all concerned for those year 2s that are still working on basic phonics and number bonds (I can see there's a lot of terminology I'm going to need to learn!)? Would you expect those children to still be able to achieve expected standards by the end of the year (at least some of them?).

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Zoflorabore · 02/04/2018 14:12

Agree that the ability range is huge. My yr 2 dd has a close friend who is still on red books which are what they read in reception. Dd and one other I think are on copper which is year 3 level.
And everything in between.

In dd's class there are 6 ability tables and again the top table will be doing much harder work than those at the bottom.

So effectively your ds shouldn't stand out in an average year 2 class.
I would buy a Maths and English sat book which help prepare the children for the sats in May as these will give you a good indication of what is expected.

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Raggsy · 02/04/2018 14:18

The problem with the KS1 stuff that I've seen so far, is it mostly refers to what's expected after year 2 (the science stuff has some separation). I know my son can't do a lot of that stuff, but as he'll still effectively have a whole year at school to learn much of it, it's not a surprise.

Is there anything giving a standard for what would be expected/worked towards by the end of year 1, since that's more where we obviously need to be aiming.

If giving a dramatic example, he was only able to sound out individual letters, not read whole words and just about able to write out the alphabet, could he still get by in year 2, and not simply feel completely left behind?

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thegreylady · 02/04/2018 14:30

Your example is extreme and with those skills he would be at the bottom of Year one level. If he has no special needs then you should consider working with him using workbooks etc so he can read simple sentences and write several words. He should certainly be writing his name, reading cvs words and coping with number bods to 10.

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sirfredfredgeorge · 02/04/2018 14:38

There's the phonics screening check at the end of year one, that is the only national measure you'll really get, something like 3/4's will be passing it, you can get a copy of the materials and run your own check easily with him from the gov.uk website.

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anxious2017 · 02/04/2018 14:38

he was only able to sound out individual letters, not read whole words and just about able to write out the alphabet, could he still get by in year 2, and not simply feel completely left behind?

He shouldn't feel left behind as work would be differentiated to suit him and others of a similar level.

I've had Year 2s at this level reach relevant outcomes at the end of year, but some won't. It is quite an extreme example. However, some children with English as an additional language come in not knowing any English at all and most of them manage to hit targets!

Definitely start working on things at home though.

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Raggsy · 02/04/2018 14:45

sirfredfredgeorge - That sounds useful, I'll see if I can find a copy, thank you.

anxious2017 - Great, that's very encouraging, thank you. We're obviously trying to help him along, but it's nice to have solid targets to be working towards, rather than not being sure if we're under/over estimating what he'll need to know. I believe he's a smart child (but doesn't every parent!) and should be OK, but I accept that reality may not agree with my personal opinions.

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Florin · 02/04/2018 14:49

My son is in the same year as your son so currently in year 1, he had a speech delay so was behind but now I would say he is about average in his year. He can read most things such as a menu or road sign and most non chapter books to himself, he is just about starting in some simple chapter books like captain underpants or horrid Henry. Maths he can do subtraction and addition using 2 figure numbers, he also can do basic fractions 1/2 1/4 1/3 1/5 1/6
Writing he can write joined up (although he could do with improving on neatness!) and can spell not too complicated words and write short sentences. He also does French and can say some basic phrases sing a few songs and nursery rhymes and count in French etc. He has done basic stuff in Geography and science etc

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Norestformrz · 02/04/2018 16:20

At the end of Year 2 there will be National Curriculum tests (often called SATs) in Maths and Reading (some schools may also use the optional Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation tests). As SirFred says your son will also take part in the Phonics Screening Check since he will have missed it in Y1.

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BlueTablecloth · 02/04/2018 16:44

My DC is currently in year one (so year 2 in september)

The type of books they will be reading with links to some examples
www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/starting-school/oxford-reading-tree-explained/
so 2/3 of the way through year one you'd expect to be reading green or orange level
In maths they're doing simple addition and subtraction, counting in 2s and 10s, and have just started looking at place value (ones, tens, hundreds,..)
In writing they're doing a few sentences with capital letters and full stops.

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brilliotic · 02/04/2018 17:20

The good news is that school should differentiate according to his abilities, and support him in catching up, rather than just throw him into the class to sink or swim.

The possible problem I can imagine is that if differentiation consists of putting him with a group of children who have similar ability to him, and his abilities are over a year behind the 'expected', that might not be ideal. Probably the only reason your DC can't do the 'expected' things yet is because he hasn't been taught. The children in his group would be children who can't do these things despite having been taught. There might be a child who just wasn't ready yet, but would now be in a place where they can catch up with the average of the class; but most likely if your DC was in a group with similarly-able children, these children would have some kind of special needs. Teaching would be geared towards these needs; but not necessarily towards your DC's needs.

That's what I would pay attention to for when he starts. Though generally IMO at 6 he should be able to learn these things a lot faster than he would have at 4, so chances are he will catch up quickly.

FWIW, Teach Your Monster To Read is a fairly good app/website whilst being fun and a game. Also Maths Seeds (unfortunately subscription-based) - it covers all the curriculum maths topics, with 'lessons' and exercises. At 6, if there are no learning difficulties, and with a bit of 'real life' support on the side (so it is not all on the screen), I can imagine that if your DS did 20 minutes of maths seeds 5 times/week or so, he could quite easily reach end of Y1 level over the summer holidays (or maybe give it a full two months). I'm not saying you need this - you could teach it yourself too, without any screens at all.

Also Numberblocks on CBBies, and Alphablocks. Numberblocks is fantastic for number sense. Alphablocks for getting a sense of blending.

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Naty1 · 02/04/2018 18:10

Florin your ds would be ahead at my dd school.
The kids are on bands green to white or so. Most of the ones i kniw are turquoise or above. They are just starting on 2 digit addition and subtraction and i think that has gone over most of the kids heads. They have only done simple fractions like quarters. And cant actually apply number bonds yet. Ie dd could say number bonds to 10 in reception and 2 5 and 10s but cant do questions on it

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Norestformrz · 02/04/2018 18:49

There are only National expectations for each Key Stage not each year group so each school can set their own curriculum content so as you can see from the replies there is a huge variation as to what children are doing in Y1.

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Raggsy · 02/04/2018 19:51

Thank you brilliotic, very very useful.

He used to watch alphablocks when he was much younger, I think it helped him with his letters and some sounds, but I don't know how much it helped with overall reading. Perhaps I need to try and encourage it again, but I'm afraid more interesting cartoons will have taken over! I've already signed up for Teach Your Monster to Read, so we'll be trying that.

I'm going to have to try and find some more resources on the maths requirements, and especially the techniques/jargon etc.

I can see that there's obviously a huge range, and it seems like there shouldn't be a problem with him getting teaching at the right level. I'll definitely keep an eye on whether his needs are being met, and try and top up anything ourselves, in the hope it'll let him move up at school.

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Norestformrz · 03/04/2018 06:19

Many schools use the White Rose resources for maths. They're free but you need to register on the TES site to access them. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/white-rose-maths-summer-block-1-years-1-6-11858589

Abilities in year 2 of primary.
Abilities in year 2 of primary.
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