UNDERSTANDING THE BRITISH EDUCATION SYSTEM

Our Aim: Every Child Matters

Our Key Outcomes for children and young people are:

Staying safe

Being healthy

Enjoying and achieving

Making a positive contribution

Achieving economic wellbeing

Primary Education in the UK : An Overview

Year / Class

Key Stage Age

PrimarySchool

Infant School

Nursery and Reception

Foundation Stage 3-5

Year 1 Key Stage 1 5-6

Year 2 6-7

Junior School

Year 3 Key Stage 2 7-8

Year 4 8-9

Year 5 9-10

Year 6 10-11

Primary School:Early years : Reception / Nursery

For all 3 year olds(part time)

Children learn through play.

They also learn to make friends.

Primary School:Key Stage 1: Years / Class 1 and 2 Children learn to: Read

Write

Draw

Paint

Add

Subtract

Play

Key Stage 2: Years / Class 3-6

Learning becomes more advanced. Children learn through: Research Experiments

Discussions

Exploring

Developing personal styles..

Secondary Education in the UK:An overview

Year / Class

Key Stage Age

Secondary School

Years 7-9 Key Stage 3 11-14

Years 10-11 Key Stage 4 14-16

6th Form Years 12-13 Key Stage 5 16-18

KS3: YEARS 7-9The National Curriculum- This is what the education department in the UK wants schools to teach.

Core subjects: English, Maths, Science, ICT

Foundation subjects: History, Geography, Art, Music, PE, Design and Technology, MFL

Compulsory subjects: RE (Religious Education), Citizenship, Sex Education as part of PSHE

Choices in Y9 (for KS4)

At the end of Year 9 pupils choose their GCSE options. Your child will study:

English ICT

Maths national exams and PE

Science Citizenship

and choose one subject from each of these 4 areas:

Arts subjects (art + design, music, dance, drama + media arts)

Design + Technology (DT)

Humanities (history + geography)

Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) + community languages

KS5: Years 12 - 13

Pupils can choose to study at:- a school sixth form- a sixth form college- a further education college

Pupils can study for:- A Levels (needed for university)- BTECs- other qualifications

Achievement at Primary School

Year Key Stage Age ExpectedLevel ofAchievement

Primary

School

Infant

School

Nursery andReception

Foundation Stage 3-5

Year 1Key Stage 1

5-6 1a/2c

Year 2 6-7 2b

Junior

School

Year 3

Key Stage 2

7-8 2a/3c

Year 4 8-9 3b

Year 5 9-10 3a/4c

Year 6 10-11 4b

Achievement at Secondary School

Year Key Stage Age Expected Level of Achievement

Secondary School

Years 7-9

Years 10-11

Years 12-13

Key Stage 3

Key Stage 4

Key Stage 5

11-14

14-16

16-18

5

GCSE / Vocational qualifications

A Levels / Vocationalqualifications

Support for Learning

Students with Special Educational Needs: differentiation; in-class support; withdrawal group work; homework clubs; speech and language therapy; physiotherapy

EMA / EAL students: Induction courses for beginners; in-class support; differentiation; bi-lingual dictionaries; reading time; lunch time and after school homework clubs

Students with emotional / behavioural needs: Learning Support Unit programmes; Learning Mentors; School Counselling Team; wide range of external agencies

Supporting your child in school

Attendance and punctuality• The school year is 190 days. This is compulsory• If your child is sick you need to send a medical note• If attendance falls below 89% you will be asked to come in for a

meeting with the Head

Holidays• There are 3 terms in a year• Each term has a half term holiday for one week• There is a two week holiday at Christmas (December) and Easter• The summer holiday is about 6 weeks• NO HOLIDAY SHOULD BE TAKEN DURING TERM TIME. This can affect

your child’s attendance and learning

Parents’ Evenings• At parents’ evenings you can come and meet your child’s teachers

to discuss their progress• If you don’t feel confident in speaking English you may bring a friend

or relative with you

Parental involvement

Schools are keen to involve parents in the life of the school

Your school may have:

- parents / teachers associations- community parents meetings, eg. coffee mornings- international evenings- family learning days- Parent Voice groups- a homework diary through which you can keep in

touch with your child’s teachers