Preston Street PrimaryP1 Transition

Play & HWB

Literacy & English

Numeracy & Mathematics

Live Twitter Q & A.Wednesday 27th May6-7pm

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A Play based approach

At Preston Street Primary, we have adopted a Play based learning approach in Primary 1.

‘Children learn and develop at different rates personal to themselves. They are continually trying to make sense of the world around them. Children learn best when they are active, busy learners. It could be said that they are learning all of the time from all of their experiences.’

Realising the Ambition: Being Me

The importance of Play

Play is the essence of childhood. It is a key part of children’s enjoyment and development. Through play, children create their own culture, develop their abilities, explore their creativity, challenge their limitations and assumptions and learn about the people and places around them

Research shows that active learning as well as purposeful play, has a positive and lasting impact on children’s learning in pre-school and the early years of primary school.

Three features of successful play-based pedagogy includes:• Child led play• Adult led learning• Adult initiated learning

What will this look like for my child in P1?

Teachers will take small groups of children to teach focussed lessons in Language & Literacy and Numeracy & Mathematics.

Challenges will be set and there will also be opportunities to explore and experiment through child- initiated play so that children can drive their own learning and interests.

Teachers will set up play activities similar to nursery.We provide a range of learning opportunities to ensure there is equal access to broad and balanced learning experiences.

Why?

At Preston Street, our teachers recognise the interconnections between playing, learning, growing, developing, being healthy and being happy.

‘Play encompasses children’s behaviour which is freely chosen, personally directed and intrinsically motivated. It is performed for no external goal or reward and is a fundamental and integral part of healthy development – not only for individual children but also for the society in which they live.’

(Scottish Government, Play Strategy Scotland 2013: 12)2

Health and Well-beingEveryone has been living with a lot of restrictions on movement and contact and we are aware that coming into a school setting for a P1 pupil could be a challenge. We understand that time away from nursery may have affected pupils socially and emotionally.

From the very early stages of P1 we will be focusing on ensuring that every child is welcomed and finds something they enjoy at school. We will be building our relationships with them to help them to adjust to the school environment.

• Children learn best when they feel secure, safe and happy.

• At Preston Street Primary, our main priority is the wellbeing of our children.

Getting it Right for every child (GIRFEC)

Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) is the national approach in Scotland to improving outcomes and supporting the wellbeing of our children and young people.

GIRFEC describes children and young people's wellbeing in terms of eight Wellbeing Indicators;

• Safe • Healthy• Achieving • Nurtured

• Active, • Respected, • Responsible• Included

These are the basic requirements for all children and young people to grow, develop and reach their full potential.

In P1, our learners have regular access to the Outdoor area as we believe they act as a rich stimulus for creative thinking and learning.

During outdoor play, children become teachers and learners. They share their knowledge and skills to accomplish different tasks or challenges. In this process of cooperation, it is possible to develop empathy, as children begin to understand other people’s feelings and needs.

The outdoors offers opportunities for challenge, enquiry, critical thinking and reflection and plays a major role in supporting wellbeing.

Outdoor Learning

If you can’t say it, you can’t write it!

Talking is important and is closely linked to reading, writing and learning.

When children retell events from real life or stories, they are recalling details and sequencing key events. Giving children opportunities for conversations and discussions, helps them learn to take turns as they listen and respond to others. It also widens their vocabulary and encourages precision in their use of language.

Teaching of Early Literacy

• Literacy is fundamental to all areas of learning as it unlocks access to the wider curriculum.• At Preston Street, we follow Edinburgh City Council’s Literacy Rich Programme, supplemented with aspects of Jolly Phonics and Read, Write Inc approaches.• Singing, rhyming, enjoyment of reading & writing, word building and exploring sounds will be experienced by your child in P1.

What is Phonics?

Phonics teaches children to connect the sounds of spoken English with theletters or groups of letters.

• We start with the smallest units of sound eg:/c /a/ t/ as in ‘cat’. • Children are taught the letters phonetically (how they sound) • The sounds are not taught in alphabetical order, they are taught in an order which

allows children to begin building words immediately.• We teach the children to identify the sound patterns concurrently with how to

segment single sounds in words, build words using the sounds and finally how to blend the sounds together to create words and read them.

Tricky Words

We also teach children that some words in English are irregular and moredifficult to decode.

These high frequency sight words are taught alongside the use of phonics and we refer to them as ‘tricky words’ eg: ‘the’.

Cursive Handwriting

• At Preston Street we teach cursive handwriting to improve presentation, speed and flow.• New sounds are practised using cursive script.

Primary 1 Literacy

• Learning rhymes and songs• Fine motor activities to strengthen the fingers• Learning the initial sounds and blends• Handwriting• Tricky words• Word building• Jolly Phonics songs and actions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COJdn6sbbsk

Teaching of Reading

Children learn to read through a variety of approaches -phonic knowledge & whole word.

• Our main resource will be Oxford Reading Tree which builds vocabulary through a series of stories set around familiar characters.

• We also use information texts, poetry and phonics-based books to enable children to build their exposure to and understanding of a variety of texts.

Teaching of Writing

At the early stages of P1 we use a programme called Foundations of Writing. This resource is a useful intervention to help many children develop the physical strength and fine motor skills required to form letters and write well.

It is important that writing is supported until a child is developmentally ready. Therefore, lots of talking before writing always takes place. Learners are encouraged to orallyconstruct sentences and pieces of writing.

Initially in P1 sentences are scribed by an adult and when they are ready, they will be encouraged to write on their own.

Teaching of Numeracy & Maths

At Preston Street Primary and across most Edinburgh Primary Schools, P1-3 children are taught using SEAL (Stages of Early Arithmetical Learning) This is taught in small groups where the focus is on talking about strategies and sharing with other pupils. Most of the SEAL learning is oral, with some written activities to support what pupils are learning.

There are 5 stages which the learner is expected to progress through:

• Emergent

• Perceptual

• Figurative

• Counting-on

• Facile

By using SEAL approaches, teachers can help learners have a firm foundation for number. It ensures that their strategies are based on understanding rather than on processes or tricks.

SEAL consists of teaching a progression of key aspects of early number

Number word sequences• Forwards and backwards

Numerals

Addition and subtraction• Counting visible items• Figurative counting• Counting on and counting back

Number structures• Spatial patterns• Finger patterns• Temporal patterns and sequences• Combining and partitioning

Multiplication and Division• Equal groups and sharing

ExampleAddition

6 + 5 = 11

Needs to use counters

or other concrete

materials

Uses a jump

strategy e.g.

6 +4 +1

Counts on in

ones from 6

(7,8,9,10,11)

Uses doubles/near-

doubles

(double 6 minus

1/double 5 plus 1)

Counts from one

(1,2,3,....,6,7,8,9,10,11)

As well as Numeracy, we will look at a number of mathematical

concepts throughout the year.

Other aspects covered will be:

• Pattern

• Measurement

• Symmetry

• Shape

• Data Analysis

• Money

• Time

Early Level Experiences and Outcomes (Es and Os) are covered in three years -Nursery year 1, Nursery year 2 and Primary 1.

• Transition reports from nursery give P1 teachers information about what children have learned and achieved.

• A play-based approach in P1 helps to ensure a smooth transition from Nursery to P1.

• Many Es and Os across the curriculum can be learned through play activities.

• Teachers use National Benchmarks to assess children’s learning along with their observations; dialogue with the learners and their own professional judgements.

Curriculum for ExcellenceEarly Level

Twitter: https://twitter.com/prestonstpsFollow @prestonstps #P1

Wednesday 27th May

6-7pm

Live Twitter Q & Awith Mr Hoyle and Mrs McLaughlin