Primary Schools

When students start their Primary Education they are entering the most important phase of their lives. It is this phase in their development that is the very foundation of their future life. What should they achieve when they leave?

Literate primary pupils should be able to:

• Read and write with confidence, fluency and understanding
• Monitor their reading and correct their own mistakes
• Understand the sound and spelling system and use this to read and spell accurately
• Have fluent and legible handwriting
• Have an interest in words and their meanings and a growing vocabulary
• Know about, understand and be able to write fiction and poetry
• Understand and be familiar with some of the ways in which narratives are structured through basic literary ideas of setting, character and plot
• Understand, use and be able to write a range of non-fiction texts
• Plan, draft, revise and edit their own writing
• Have a suitable technical vocabulary through which to understand and discuss their reading and writing
• Be interested in books, read with enjoyment and evaluate and justify their preferences
• Develop their powers of imagination, inventiveness and critical awareness through reading and writing. In terms of numeracy, when children are asked to do a calculation the first question they should ask is: "Can I do this in my head?"
  
  

  With 5 to 8 year-olds, the emphasis is more on mental work and somewhat less on "sums" written down in columns. The aim is for children to do mathematics in their heads. If the numbers are too large they use paper and pencil to avoid losing track. Some children will sketch pictures and diagrams to help them. You may be surprised to see these in your child's mathematics book!

  
  

  In the later primary years, children will be taught conventional written sums, many of which you will recognise. If you don't recognise these methods please do not insist that your child carry-out calculations in the way that you do them. A different method will lead to confusion and will certainly take the fun out of homework sessions!

In the research carried by the Academy, the overwhelming theme in primary schools is that all learning should be fun, and children should love going to school. Unless this is achieved, academic achievement will severely be affected for the rest of their lives.