Kestrels
Welcome to Kestrel Class!
Hello and Welcome to Kestrel Class
Our teacher is Mrs. Nandhla
Our teaching assistant is Mrs. Akhtar
& Miss Mcintyre (Mon-Tues)
Please click on the picture and it will take you to your login page. 
Kestrel's Timetable
Kestrel's Spring 1 Overview
Kestrel's Yearly Overview
Our theme for this half term is Africa
If you would like to know more about what we will be learning, please see our Timetable and Curriculum Overview for this Half Term.
PE
Kestrels have P.E. on Mondays and Wednesdays. Please make sure that children wear their PE kit on those days. PE kits should consist of a plain white t-shirt, black shorts, leggings or tracksuit bottoms and trainers. When taking part in PE, children with long hair are to have it tied back and any earrings must be removed.
Homework
To ensure that homework is meaningful and manageable for all of our families at St John's, we would like the main focus to be on reading. Please support your child by encouraging them to read just a few pages of their home reading book four times per week. Please ensure that their reading record is signed by an adult to reflect the reading that is being done at home.
We also encourage children to learn their weekly spellings at home too - please ensure that your child's spelling sheet is completed during the week as tests are on Friday.
Finally, given the importance of times tables, please encourage your child to visit and play on TTRockstars at least two times per week. This will really help their progress with times tables and wider maths. Please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any difficulties logging in.
Optional Homework
For those children/families who do feel that they would like to do something more, please find below details of optional homework for this half term. This can be completed and brought to school at any point before half term.
Optional Homework - Spring 1 2025
For your optional homework this half term, I would like you to prepare a presentation about a favourite book. This could be a book that you have read recently or read in the past, fiction, non-fiction, poetry or anything else! Be prepared to talk to the class for approximately 3-5 minutes and tell them about your book. You could include things such as:
- what the book is about
- why it is one of your favourites
- information about the author/illustrator
- interesting information about the book/story
If you have any questions about the homework then please ask one of the staff in Kestrels Class.
Some useful links to help with your homework!
Click on each of the words below to access the webpage.
SATs in Year 2
KS1 SATs were overhauled to reflect changes to the national curriculum in 2016.
In September 2017 it was confirmed that the KS1 SATs will be made non-statutory (so schools will be able to choose whether to adminster them or not) from 2023.
Our school has chosen to administer the optional KS1 SATs this year.
The children will sit the KS1 SATs in May. Here is some information about the SATs.
At the end of Year 2, children take SATs in:
- Reading
- English grammar, punctuation and spelling, or GPS (optional paper, schools can decide whether to use it)
- Maths
The reading test for Year 2 pupils is made up of two separate papers:
- Paper 1 consists of a selection of texts totalling 400 to 700 words, with questions interspersed
- Paper 2 comprises a reading booklet of a selection of passages totalling 800 to 1100 words. Children will write their answers in a separate booklet.
Each paper is worth 50 per cent of the marks, and should take around 30 minutes, but children are not be strictly timed, as the tests are not intended to assess children’s ability to work at speed. The texts in the reading papers cover a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and get progressively more difficult towards the end of the test.
Teachers have the option to stop the test at any point that they feel is appropriate for a particular child.
Children taking Key Stage 1 SATs may also sit two separate papers in grammar, spelling and punctuation:
- Paper 1: a 20-word spelling test taking approximately 15 minutes and worth 20 marks.
- Paper 2: a grammar, punctuation and vocabulary test, in two sections of around 10 minutes each (with a break between, if necessary), worth 20 marks. This will involve a mixture of selecting the right answers e.g. through multiple choice, and writing short answers.
The Key Stage 1 maths test is made up of two papers:
- Paper 1: arithmetic, worth 25 marks and taking around 15 minutes.
- Paper 2: mathematical fluency, problem-solving and reasoning, worth 35 marks and taking 35 minutes, with a break if necessary. There are a variety of question types: multiple choice, matching, true / false, constrained (e.g. completing a chart or table; drawing a shape) and less constrained (e.g. where children have to show or explain their method).
Children are not allowed to use any tools such as calculators or number lines.
The KS1 SATs are due to be administered in May 2024.
Unlike KS2 SATs, KS1 SATs don't have to be administered according to a nationally-set timetable in a specific week. Schools are free to manage the timetable and will aim to administer the tests in the classroom in a low-stress, low-key way; some children won't even be aware they've taken them!
Although the tests are set externally, they are marked by teachers within the school.
Children are given a scaled score. Their raw score – the actual number of marks they get – is translated into a scaled score, where a score of 100 means the child is working at the expected standard.
A score below 100 indicates that the child needs more support, whereas a score of above 100 suggests the child is working at a higher level than expected for their age. The maximum score possible is 115, and the minimum is 85.
Teacher assessments are also used to build up a picture of your child’s learning and achievements. In addition, your child will receive an overall result saying whether they have achieved the required standard in the tests.
If you have any questions about any of this information then please come and speak to us, we would be happy to help.
My email address is s.nandhla@st-johns-gretharwood.lancs.sch.uk
Thanks