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TEACH READING & WRITING
A
fter all the discussion and
debate surrounding the KS2
grammar, punctuation and
spelling test, schools were set
for the introduction of its KS1
counterpart – until, that is, it was discovered
it had already been introduced, appearing
online as a sample paper. Oops.
Despite the error, which led to the paper
beingwithdrawn, some schools decided
to take the test anyway as their pupils had
prepared for it; others saw this as a golden
opportunity to enjoy the rest of the termand
do something else.
At the time of writing, however, the KS1
grammar test is still set to go ahead next year,
and the content remains unfamiliar territory,
even for experienced teachers. It contains
two papers: a spelling test withwords placed
within contextualised sentences; and a
grammar, punctuation and vocabulary test
that has a series of questions for pupils to
answer. So, for anyone feeling at all uncertain
about either of these aspects, here’s a closer
look at what your pupils are expected to know
and understand by the end of KS1.
1
Spellingandgrammar
arekey
The Paper 1 spelling test –which has 20
words in contextualised sentences – isworth
50 per cent of the overall marks; the Paper 2
grammar test carries between 25 per cent to
38 per cent of themarks. Many teacherswere
surprised by the increased focus on spellings.
Frommy own deep analysis of the sample
spelling paper, 50 per cent of the spelling
questions cover content fromYear 1, and 50
per cent focus on content fromYear 2.
If your school is concentrating on teaching
phonics inYear 1, it’s possible the spelling
sections in the newcurriculumwill have been
overlooked. But since thesewill be included in
the test, it’sworth ensuring they are covered.
2
Teachingin
contextisessential
Words canmean different things depending
on the context. It is no longer beneficial to
have a list of words on display that are not
contextualised, as this could be confusing
for pupils. For example, in the following
sentence (taken fromthe sample KS1
grammar paper), pupils are expected to
identify the verbs:
‘Yesterday
was
the school sports day
and Jo
wore
her new running shoes.’
(Answers in bold).
Clearly, quite a fewpupilswould circle
‘running’, but if they are aware that they
need to look at howwords are used in
context, thismight support their
understanding. Luckily, therewere no
questions like this in the 2016 feature.
3
Year1and
Year2contentis
coveredinthetest
The test will cover areas frombothYear 1
andYear 2. Fromanalysis of the Paper 22016
grammar test, 90 per cent of the questions
are fromYear 2, and 10 per cent are from
Year 1. Theweightingmay change, but it
demonstrates that putting all your efforts
intoYear 2will not be enough.
4
Usecreative
waystoteach
testtechniques
A fabulous book for developing test
techniques is TheGreat Fairy Tale Search
by ChuckWhelon. Pupilsmight not be
familiar with ticking, circling or filling out
questionswithmissing gaps. This book offers
a practical way for pupils to develop these
skills. Pupils canfind three ducks by ticking
themor they can circle twoGingerbreadmen.
Thisway, they are learning test techniques
throughmore engagingmeans.
5
KS1isalsotested
intheKS2test
Many of the areaswithin KS1 are also
tested in the KS2 grammar test – nouns,
verbs, adjectives, adverbs, capital letters
and full stops all feature. InYear 2, pupils
are introduced to the past and present
progressive (e.g. shewas running / she is
running). They do not need to know this term
in KS1, but they do by the end of KS2.
6
Challenging
themostable
The level of difficulty is increased by
questions that require pupils towrite,
rewrite and explain – such as these
examples fromthe 2016 paper:
■
‘Write a question they could ask their
teacher in the speech bubble. Remember
to use the correct punctuation.’
■
‘Write thewords ‘did not’ as oneword,
using an apostrophe’
Fill inthe
GaPS
Don’tgetcaughtoutbytheKS1grammar,
punctuationandspellingtest.Hereare
10thingseveryteacher shouldknow...
SHAREENMAYERS
is Lead Primary English Adviser for Sutton Improvement and Support Services
