Year 6 Archives - Oxford Owl for 51��

Countdown to the KS2 SATs: week two

James Clements — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 15:00:00 +0000

Five tried and tested revision techniques

“The first step is to talk to them about where they feel their strengths lie and where they might need to develop.”

Hello, I’m James Clements. For ten years, I worked as a teacher and deputy head at a successful primary school in West London. For seven of those years I taught Year 6. As well as making sure the children I taught achieved their very best, a big part of my job was working with parents so that they could help their children in the final year of primary school. I’m also the parent of two small children.

All children have areas of the curriculum that they find easier than others. As time is limited, it makes sense for children to focus their revision on the aspects of English and mathematics where they’re not feeling so confident. The first step is to talk to them about where they feel their strengths lie and where they might need to develop. If you haven’t already, you might also want to talk to their teacher about areas where they think your child could do with some extra work. It makes sense for the child, parent and school to be working together.

Areas of the curriculum

The key areas covered by the KS2 national tests are:

Mathematics

The national curriculum puts great emphasis on children being able to add, subtract, multiply and divide with confidence, so this is a good place to start revision. Even if children can do each of these things, the quicker and more efficient they are, the better. If there are lots of questions to answer in a timed test it can be easy to make mistakes because you’re working quickly.

Practising these four operations, both in their head and using a pencil and paper, is one of the most useful things Year 6 children can do in the run up to the tests. The curriculum expects children to use standard written methods for these (yes, that includes long division) so if you’re a bit rusty, you might want to refresh your knowledge of these by searching online and watching one of the many films that explain the different processes step-by-step.

Fluency in times tables (up to 12 x 12) and number bonds (knowing the numbers that add together to make 100, 1000 or 1 [such as 0.23 + 0.77]) is also likely to be really helpful.

Helping your child prepare for the KS2 SATs maths test

Reading

We want our children to be fluent readers and have strong comprehension skills so that they can understand and enjoy the books they read. The best way to improve as a reader is to read lots. As a teacher, I spent a lot of my time encouraging the children in my class to read as widely as possible. This means quantity (reading everyday), but also quality (books that are going to introduce them to new ideas and new language) and range (different types of books – fiction and non-fiction, including books they might not normally choose to read). Taking a reading test is slightly different as being a strong reader isn’t enough to do well; it’s also a test of writing. It can be really helpful for children to have some practice responding to questions about a text in writing.

Preparing for the KS2 SATs reading test

Grammar, punctuation and spelling

A lot of the content of this test is knowing the names for different parts of language and being able to identify them, rather than being able to use them in writing. As with some of the mathematics content, you might find yourself wanting to brush up on the subjunctive and fronted adverbials…

Preparing for the KS2 SATs grammar, punctuation, and spelling test

Writing

Not a test as such, but teachers will make a judgment about the quality of a child’s writing based on several recent pieces of work. The criteria used to judge Year 6 writing this year leans heavily towards accurate use of punctuation and grammar, with ‘most’ of the Year 5 & 6 word lists spelled correctly.

Models for revision

Different approaches work for different children, but here is some tried and tested advice that’s worked with classes in the past:

1. Don’t just read

The best revision doesn’t involve sitting and passively reading a revision guide. It involves writing or doing something. This might be making notes, answering questions or explaining an idea to someone else. For most children re-reading notes isn’t the best way of revising.

2. Concentrate on the tricky bits

When revising, it can be very tempting for children to spend time on the topics they enjoy and are already good at. Instead, we want them to spend time on the bits of the curriculum that don’t come so easily. Most children will benefit from some support with this.

3. Space out your revision

Try practising the same thing more than once, leaving increasingly long spaces in between revision. For example, a child might do ten division questions one evening. Then they could try and do five the next day. Then wait a couple of days and do another five. Then wait three days and do three more. Then… well, you get the idea.

4. Mix up the revision

Little and often is a better model than a block of learning about something and then not thinking about it again for a week. Ten minutes of spelling practice every day will be more useful than an hour once per week. I used to tell my classes to practice a different multiplication table each night while they cleaned their teeth. Good for their maths fluency (and for making sure they brushed for long enough). However, I did used to get lots of complaints from parents about toothpaste all over the bathroom.

5. Sitting practice tests

Using these is fine: they can be good for helping children get used to working with a time limit and making sure children have covered all of the key knowledge they need. But on its own, a test doesn’t help you to learn anything new. The real value lies in what you do afterwards – children need to look at the questions they didn’t get right and then work out how to answer them correctly next time. That’s where the learning happens.

Countdown to the KS2 SATs: week one

James Clements — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 22:00:00 +0000

Week one: Staying positive

“We should talk about learning new things in mathematics or developing confidence in reading, rather than the scores children are getting. If we focus our energy on children’s learning, the tests scores will take care of themselves.”

Over the next few weeks I’m going to share some advice about how you can help your child to do their very best in the KS2 national tests and how these assessments can be approached so that they’re a positive experience for everyone involved.

A positive way to approach the tests

However we might feel about tests in primary school, it makes sense to approach them in a positive way with the children who are going to sit them. As a Year 6 teacher, these were the key messages I would try to share with the children and parents each year:

1. We should concentrate on skills and knowledge, rather than the tests themselves.

For one week in May, Year 6 children will be tested on their reading, mathematics, and grammar, punctuation and spelling. They’ll also have the standard of their writing assessed by teachers. This doesn’t give us a definitive answer about how good a child is at a particular subject or how good they’ll continue to be at it. It doesn’t tell us how accomplished they are in other important areas of the curriculum such as art, sport or music. What it gives is a snapshot of where the children are in these core areas of the curriculum on that particular day.

While we want children to do their best in the SATs, what is more important is whether they can do all of the things the tests are there to assess: do they have the skills and knowledge of English or maths that underpin the tests? As teachers and parents we should focus our efforts on improving children’s learning rather than simply the scores in the tests. We should talk about learning new things in mathematics or developing confidence in reading, rather than the scores children are getting. If we focus our energy on children’s learning, the tests scores will take care of themselves.

2. Children are not in competition with each other, but are trying to make progress from their own past performance.

One of the best things about being a Year 6 teacher is watching children become aware of the progress they are making in their learning. As children learn to do things they couldn’t do before or become faster or more efficient at something, it gives them a real sense of achievement. This sense of moving forward is a great feeling for children to have, especially as they set off for secondary school. I’ve found that it’s helpful to remind children that they’re not in competition with each other – all children have different aptitudes and begin the year from different starting points. Instead we want them to improve on their own performance, trying to learn new things and get better all the time.

3. SATs can provide an opportunity to prepare for secondary school.

As well as a chance to make sure all of the key knowledge is in place ready for secondary school, if approached positively, the national tests can help children to feel the sense of accomplishment that comes from working hard at something. Revising gives them the chance to return to any areas of the curriculum they might not have understood at the time. Working towards a target can also help to establish good study habits that will be useful to them at secondary school as they become increasingly independent.

In my Year 6 classroom we didn’t talk about ‘passing the SATs’ or ‘doing well in the tests’; we talked about learning new things and being ready for secondary school, a much more important focus.

Supporting the process as a parent

Anything we can do to help our children to make progress in their learning and see themselves as successful learners is going to hold them in good stead, both in the tests themselves and later at secondary school. The first steps in helping them might be:

1. Learning about the KS2 national tests and assessments.

You can find out more about the content of the tests on Oxford Owl, including support with��grammar, punctuation and spelling��Ի��mathematics. The Department for Education has produced some��that explain the national tests.

2. Find out the areas of the curriculum in which your child feels confident and where they feel they might need some extra support.

If you haven’t already, you might also want to talk to their class teacher about your child’s progress and how they think you could best support them. It makes sense for the child, parent and school to be working together towards the same aims.

More tips from Oxford Owl

KS2 SATs advice and help for parents: more detail about each of the tests and tips on supporting your child
��Ƿɲ��Bond SATs Skills workbooks and flashcards

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How to help your child with mental arithmetic

Oxford Owl — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 12:21:28 +0000

The start of a new term is a great time to think about ways you can help your child with their schoolwork.

One key area you can really help your child with, whatever their age, is mental arithmetic. Mental arithmetic is being able to add, subtract, multiply and divide in your head and to solve problems using method and logic. These skills are the key foundations of maths skills, and speed and accuracy makes everything else in maths so much easier.

Building confidence in maths early on will pay back many times over. Repetitive learning increases confidence, improves speed and builds connections in the brain; skills that last a life time. Once your child has strong mental arithmetic abilities, they can tackle all sorts of problem solving.

Here are some fun and easy ideas of how you can support your child’s learning.

Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2)

In Key Stage 1, your child will:

cover counting in twos, threes, fives and tens knowing both the multiplication and division facts for the twos, fives and tens multiplication tables
work out a number that is one more, or one less than a given number
work with number bonds to ten and twenty
add and subtract two-digit numbers
halve and double numbers.

Here are some ideas of how you can help them:

1. Flashcards

Don’t underestimate the need for repetition! It is amazing how many times a child needs to repeat times tables and number bonds before they are consolidated.

Flashcards are a great way of having fun while learning. Try taking them with you when you are out and about – spending a quick 5 minutes here and there can be fun and can make all the difference. Why not use the stopwatch on your phone for an element of challenge? Can they tell you the multiplication facts for the two times table in one minute? How about the division facts?

2. Number bond targets

Try this fun game to add, subtract or multiply to reach a target. Give your child a target of 10 and then shout out any one-digit number (including 0) and they have to add one other number to reach 10.

You can then vary this by making the target 0 and you shout out any one-digit number that they have to take away from 10 to reach 0. Once they know these bonds off by heart, try working with a target of 20.

3. Double and halve

This is a great game for waiting rooms, in the car – whenever you have a minute to spend. Say an even number and ask your child to double the number and then halve the number. Begin with a single-digit number, then up to 20 and then a multiple of 10.

Key Stage 2 (Years 3 to 6)

Your child will know their multiplication table from ones to twelves by the end of Year 4. They will be able to add and subtract three-digit numbers and to solve problems using more than one operation at a time.

Here are some fun ideas to support them with their learning:

1. More flashcards!

Flashcards continue to be a useful resource as your child gets older. There are many sets available, or it is easy to make your own.

Use the flashcards for all of the multiplication tables. Older children might enjoy seeing how many correct answers they can give in a set time. Doubling and halving bigger numbers and doubling and halving odd numbers are all brilliant ways of extending your child’s mental arithmetic skills.

Try these��from Bond.

2. Puzzles

Lots of puzzles require knowledge of number patterns. Puzzles such as Sudoku, number crosswords, maths mazes and number riddles are all excellent ways of learning by stealth!

Bond have a range of ‘brain training’ books and the number puzzles book is especially good for developing mental arithmetic. The��also has some free puzzles to try!

3. Logical thinking

Giving your child challenges that develop their logic and reasoning is perfect practice. Ask them to halve, double or triple a recipe, or to round up or down the cost of items in the supermarket and to give an estimated total. You could ask them to work out how much water to add to cordial, how many weeks of pocket money it would take to save up for something or how much the total cost will be at a café or day out.

4. Mental arithmetic games and apps

There are lots of great games and apps that make mental arithmetic more fun for children. Take a look at the free downloadable and interactive activities available on the��

Video support

Playlist: Times tables tips and tricks

Learning times tables can be fun! Find out about the patterns in times tables and get ideas for practising times tables at home.

Books and flashcards

Bond Brain Training for Kids
Age 7–11

Some monkeys are stuck in the maze – are you able to help them escape? From Sudoku grids to number riddles, switch on your puzzle powers to solve all sorts of challenges.

Over 100 fun number puzzles, including maths mazes, algebraic enigmas and fraction fun.

Bond SATs Skills
Age 7–11

These flashcards provide rapid recall practice in all the times tables from 1 to 12, helping children to meet the new curriculum demands for Key Stage 2 maths. With questions on one side and the sum on the reverse, the flashcards can be used independently or with a parent, tutor or another child to quickly test knowledge. The cards also meet the new Year 5 requirements to understand square and cube numbers, extending these all the way up to 12 squared and cubed.

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Using the Bond 10 Minute Tests

Michellejoy Hughes — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 08:11:01 +0000

If your child is getting ready for the 11+ it can be really hard to know where to start and how to help. The Bond 11+ 10 Minute Tests offer focused, bite-sized tests that can be perfect for summer revision. As they have fully worked out answers in the pull-out section, it makes it easy to mark on the go, and with the summer holidays looming, this is the perfect time to think about how best to help your child.

Having a Structured Plan

At whatever stage you are at working towards the 11+ exams, it is useful to have a structured plan to help your child revise and the Bond system creates a systematic, simple approach that can be really useful.

The main papers provide the backbone of the system and progress gradually in age and complexity. This gradual build-up lets your child take baby-steps as they grow in confidence. The ‘How To Do’ books in the Bond range show a step-by-step method for each question type that is commonly found in 11+ exams. You can work through each one with your child and then use the books to revise these skills. With each paper having a mix of question types, your child can consolidate constantly without forgetting the techniques they have learnt. The 10 Minute Tests work as a flexible support to these main books.

Why use 10 Minute Tests?

The 10 Minute Tests offer a different approach that is perfect for the holidays, especially if your child doesn’t have time for a full paper. They add variety and interest and can balance the range of subjects. For younger children especially, they are less imposing than a longer paper and can help build confidence. If your child is on the last stage of their 11+ journey, taking shorter tests can also help to develop exam technique. As the books have been carefully levelled to match the main books, the questions will be of the same standard.

Here are some different ways the 10 Minute Tests can help:

Flexible for Younger Children:
For younger children, the 10 Minute Test books can create a basic routine. Start with one Maths and one English a day, for example. The ten questions can be motivating for a younger child and the number of subjects and tests completed can be flexible.
Adaptable for busy days:
They are ideal books for completing in the car, taking on holiday or while waiting for a meal. They can be done with a 10 Minute timer or as an untimed consolidation exercise, making them adaptable.
Exam timing and technique:
Not only is it easier for children to recognise what a 10-minute time slot feels like, it also allows them to structure their time. This is invaluable when they move on to test papers. The 10 Minute Tests can be great for a pre-test warm up exercise.
Additional consolidation:
If your child has completed books 1 and 2 in the main range but they are not scoring high enough to move on, the 10 Minute Tests can be used to consolidate at the same age range.
Balancing the Subjects:
It can be really useful to set your child a paper in one subject and then while you are marking their paper for them, they can finish a 10-minute test in another subject allowing them to consolidation each subject more frequently. If your child is doing all four 11+ subjects this can work in pairs for example: An English paper then a verbal reasoning 10-minute test on one day. The following day a maths paper then a non-verbal reasoning 10-minute test. On the third day, a verbal reasoning paper then an English 10-minute test and on the fourth day, a non-verbal reasoning paper and a maths 10-minute test. If your child needs more support in one subject, it allows for more targeted work, perhaps a 10-minute test in their weakest subject each morning.

Where do I start?

Lots of past papers and practice tests are available online. includes all sorts of helpful books and online support including a handy and extracts from the new 10 Minute Tests.

Get number confident on National Numeracy Day

Oxford Owl — Fri, 14 May 2021 12:40:51 +0000

National Numeracy Day is a celebration of everyday maths that’s taking place on Wednesday 19th May 2021. Your child’s school may be taking part in a host of activities, competitions and online events to raise awareness of the importance of numeracy, and there are lots of ways that you can join in too.

National Numeracy Day is designed to empower children – and grown-ups! – to build their confidence and competence with numbers. So if you’re a bit wobbly when it comes to helping your child with maths homework, or home-school maths was a struggle, it’s the perfect time to take your first steps towards stronger numeracy.

How can you take part in National Numeracy Day?

You can get involved by signing up for the National Numeracy Challenge. It’s a free and easy-to-use website for improving your everyday maths, aiming to help you get on better at work, make your money go further, and support your child with learning maths.

National Numeracy have also created a hub full of resources to help you support your child, which includes fun number activities from their celebrity ambassadors. Whether you’re dancing with Strictly’s Katya Jones, or making cupcakes with Bake Off winner Peter Sawkins, the activities will get you and your child thinking differently about numbers.

We’ve also gathered together some of our favourite maths activities and top tips from across Oxford Owl to help you support your child with maths at home and to boost your confidence with numbers.

Find out what your child learns in maths at school

Read our top tips to support your child with maths at home on the Oxford Owl blog

Download maths activity sheets (PDF download)

(Age 3–4)
(Age 4–5)
(Age 5–6)
(Age 5–7)
(Age 5–7)
(Age 6–7)
(Key Stage 1)
(Age 7–9)

You can also .

Try these interactive maths activities

(Age 3–4)
(Age 3–4)
(Age 4–5)
(Age 4–5)
(Age 4–5)
(Age 5–6)
(Age 6–7)
(Age 7–9)

51�� is delighted to be a lead delivery partner for National Numeracy Day.

Maths activity books and flashcards

Explore our full range of maths activity books or take a look at some of our bestsellers below.

Buy now

Brain Training for Kids: Number Puzzles

Bond | Age 8–11
It’s time to train your brain! Some monkeys are stuck in the maze – are you able to help them escape? From Sudoku grids to number riddles, switch on your puzzle powers to solve all sorts of challenges.

Over 100 fun number puzzles, including maths mazes, algebraic enigmas, and fraction fun.
Solve sudokus and real-life maths problems.
Untangle number riddles and clever patterns.

Find out more >

Buy now

Addition and Subtraction Age 5–6

Progress with Oxford
This activity book will help to develop your child’s core mathematics skills, whilst ensuring they have fun! They will quickly learn to solve calculations involving addition and subtraction with one and two-digit numbers up to 20. Includes stickers and a progress chart.

Find out more >

Browse more activity books from Progress with Oxford >

Buy now

Times Tables Flashcards

Bond SATs Skills | Age 8–11
These flashcards provide rapid recall practice in all the times tables from 1 to 12, helping children to meet the curriculum expectations for Key Stage 2 maths and prepare for the Year 4 multiplication tables check.

Find out more >

Browse more workbooks and flashcards from Bond SATs Skills >

Buy now

Oxford Primary Illustrated Maths Dictionary

Age 8–11
A new edition of this favourite illustrated alphabetical dictionary of key maths terms and concepts from the curriculum. An essential dictionary for children aged 8–11 to use at both home and school, with around 1000 words and meanings and a thematic supplement on focus areas.

Find out more >

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Looking forward to the summer term: tips to help boost your child’s learning

James Clements — Fri, 14 May 2021 08:35:56 +0000

Spring is here.

As I write this, the sun is shining in through the window, blossom garlands the trees outside, and birds are perched on the fence, singing merrily. Obviously, it has snowed this week and there have been torrential gales as well, but hey, that’s the Great British Springtime. I’m choosing to concentrate on the sunshine. After what’s been a difficult year for everyone, spring is a time for optimism, a time to look forwards. So, in an optimistic mood, let’s look forward to the school term ahead.

The great majority of primary-aged children in England returned to school for a few weeks at the end of last term. Every school is different, but for most the focus was on children socialising with their friends again, getting back into routines, and for teachers to run some assessments to see where children were and what they had learnt while they were at home. In the summer term, the focus is likely to move to learning, with teachers using the results of their assessments to decide what they need to teach next.

So, what can we do to help our children to make lots of progress over the term ahead?

1. Don’t tell children they’ve ‘fallen behind’

There’s a gloomy narrative that has pervaded the newspapers and wider media at times that says this generation of children have missed out on so much schooling during the pandemic that they’re doomed never to fulfil their potential. They’ve fallen behind and if they don’t catch up quickly, they’re in trouble.

As parents, I think we should do everything we can to resist this point of view.

First of all, it’s just not true. Most children will have carried on learning lots of things at home – perhaps because of the online learning offered by their school, perhaps because parents have stepped in and worked wonders with them, or perhaps just because of all the incidental learning children do all the time. Whether it comes from reading, watching interesting tv programmes or films online or from playing, children are hard-wired to learn new things and it’s really difficult to stop them learning, even when they’re stuck at home during a global pandemic.

Secondly, even if the things they’ve been learning at home are more closely-related to the Xbox or Lego than maths or reading, and there are some parts of the school curriculum they still need to master, telling someone they’ve ‘fallen behind and need to catch up or else’ is unlikely to be terribly motivating.

If we can frame the return to school positively, as a chance to learn lots of interesting new things, then children are far more likely to be enthusiastic learners.

2. Don’t try and do everything – pick some priorities

Of course, there might be some areas of the curriculum where your children would benefit from a bit of extra focus. These might be things that are difficult to teach online – discussion and debate in English lessons, for example, or practical subjects like PE or music. There might be things linked to the core subjects that your child finds particularly tricky, things they would have had a bit more support with had they been in school.

The trick here is to focus on the really important areas so children’s attention and energy isn’t spread too thin. It might be that you’ve spotted these areas while children have been working at home – perhaps you’ve noticed that they find working with fractions hard because it takes them a long time to work out their multiplication tables (they’re not fluent yet) or that they find it difficult to answer questions about a book because they’re using all their energy sounding out the individual words (a different kind of fluency). The At School page of the Oxford Owl site has lots of information and ideas for how you can support your child with their next steps.

If you’re not sure about where you might best focus your efforts, the first thing to do is to talk to your child’s teacher (perhaps putting your new Zoom skills to good use). Hopefully, they’ll have a good idea of where your child is in their learning at the moment, based on any assessments they’ve carried out, and they can point you in the right direction.

3. Make use of ‘stealth learning’

If you do want to help your children in a particular area, perhaps there is a way of building the skills and knowledge without having to make it seem like extra schoolwork. Fun activities like cooking or going for a walk can be effective, enjoyable ways of developing children’s maths. Likewise, there are few more enjoyable ways of learning than curling up together with a good book.

4. Keep �𱹱��ǲԱ�’s wellbeing at the heart of things

Things are slowly starting to open up again at the moment and, all being well, there’s the chance to meet up with family members that we haven’t seen for a while, spend time with friends at the park and in gardens (and before long inside their houses – just imagine!). We’ll be able to go and do many things that have been off-limits for the winter: the sports clubs, dance classes, and trips to wildlife parks and museums. Now might be the time to embrace the world opening up again, rather than spending every day after school ‘catching up’ on schoolwork at the kitchen table.

And I use the word �𱹱��ǲԱ�’s with good reason – it’s not just children’s wellbeing that’s important, but parents’ too. The last year has been hard and home-learning has probably been difficult at times. For the sake of �𱹱��ǲԱ�’s wellbeing, the summer might be the time to focus on getting some other aspects of life back on track before we start worrying about fronted adverbials and simplifying fractions.

5. If you feel like they’re not on track at the moment, don’t panic

As any teacher will tell you, learning is a messy process. It doesn’t happen in a neat straight line, with every child mastering the same things at the same time. Even in a normal, uninterrupted school year, every child will have a spell where they find something difficult, before it suddenly clicks and they make a flurry of rapid progress. For most children, we can think of the pandemic as one of those slower spells – if circumstances mean that they haven’t had the chance to learn something over the last year, what will hopefully follow next will be a sudden burst of learning now they’re back at school.

Also, it’s very possible that children will find learning something new easier now than they would have last year because they’re that little bit older. This is especially true of younger children where a year makes a huge difference. Something that is difficult for a 5-year-old to understand will hopefully be much easier for a 6½ -year-old to pick up simply because they’re that little bit more mature.

And where that doesn’t happen automatically, we’ll be there as parents to support and help our children. As I said at the start, Spring is a time for optimism!

51�� learning books from Oxford

Browse more books for children from 51��.

Explore the series

Progress with Oxford

Age 3–10
Progress with Oxford is a series of activity books created to help children practise essential English and maths skills, and is fully aligned to the curriculum.

Fun characters and collectable stickers encourage children every step of the way.

Find out more >

Browse books

Read with Oxford

Age 3–8
Featuring much-loved characters, great authors, engaging storylines, and fun activities, Read with Oxford offers engaging books to build reading confidence at every stage of learning to read.

Find out more >

Explore the series

Bond SATs Skills

Age 8–11
Bond SATs Skills workbooks are designed to be worked through by your child at their own pace. Each workbook contains ten units of activities, packed full of SATs-style questions covering the topics children need to master before they leave primary school.

Find out more >

Browse books

Bond Brain Training

Age 8–11
These fun puzzle books have been designed by the Bond team to develop children’s vocabulary, maths, and problem-solving skills. Each book has over 100 puzzles, set at different levels so that your child can choose the challenge that best suits them.

Find out more >

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Oxford Levels: How to support your 7–11-year-old’s reading development

Oxford Owl — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 08:37:58 +0000

Hello! I’m Catherine Baker, and I’m an editor and consultant. For over twenty years I’ve been thinking about how to make books that will really help children learn how to read.

In this video and blog post, I’ll talk about how using levelled reading books all the way through Primary school can help your child. You’ll find some recommended levelled readers, ideal for 7–11-year-olds at the end of the blog post.

Video: How to support your 7–11 year old’s reading development with Oxford Levels

Why use levelled reading books?

Levelled reading books are specially designed to increase children’s reading skills and experience in gradual, supportive steps. At the very beginning of learning to read, it’s pretty clear how levelled reading books help. But what about when children have learnt the basics? They can read – but do they really have the full range of reading skills they need, for all the learning they’ll be doing throughout Primary and Secondary school and beyond?

Older children need to be able to think, talk about and learn from what they read. Carefully levelled books – using a system like Oxford Levels – can help coax these skills out.

Challenging and supporting young readers

The challenge is there, because levelled reading books are written to gently stretch children’s reading skills. The team at Oxford thinks hard about language choices, so that both vocabulary and sentence structures gradually become more complex. It also means focusing on the conceptual challenge – as children develop as readers, they can cope with increasingly complex plots, ideas and story structures.

The gradual increase in complexity is very supportive too, because it gives children the chance to think about what they’re learning as they read – so their comprehension skills and enjoyment of reading both improve. They’re less likely to get stuck and end up feeling frustrated. It also helps that, compared with children’s novels you might get from the library or bookshop, levelled reading books tend to be shorter and more manageable. They pack a lot of reading value into quite a small space – which is really rewarding for children who might not have huge reading stamina yet.

How to help at home

Of course, any reading that children choose to do is valuable, but sometimes children get stuck on a really long, hard book that’s just too difficult – or they lose confidence and get equally stuck on a series or author that’s not really challenging them at all. When children get stuck in either of those ways, it’s harder for them to learn from their reading – or enjoy it. If your child seems a bit stuck with their reading, have a look at the Oxford Levels guidance on Oxford Owl to pinpoint the right level for them. You can then find a selection of books at that level in the free eBook library.

When your child’s reading books at the right level – books that can both challenge and support them – they will learn more. They’re not just reading, but understanding – and ultimately that means they’re more likely to enjoy reading, and get better at it!

Levelled readers for Key Stage 2 (age 7–11)

Each of these books have inside cover notes to help children explore the content, further supporting their reading development. All book links go to Amazon.co.uk.

Level 10 | Age 6–8 | By Ranj Singh, David Semple

Skelebones is a comprehensive look at how our skeleton works with TV’s Dr Ranj Singh.

Level 11 | Age 6–8 | By Steve Barlow, Steve Skidmore, Jez Tuya

Doghouse Dave is thrown off his ship and left stranded on a desert island, where he meets the wickedest pirates that ever sailed the Caribbean Sea but they are not what they seem. Cast off on this thrilling pirate adventure!

Level 12 | Age 6–8 | By Tony Bradman

Blast off on the biggest micro-adventure yet with the popular Project X characters Max, Cat, Ant and Tiger and their new robot micro-friend, Eight. Carefully levelled and highly motivating, this book is ideal for independent reading.

Level 13 | Age 7–8 | By Jo Bourne, Adam Howling

What happens when animals and plants are taken out of their natural habitat? It can be a disaster for their new neighbours! Invasive Species investigates the species’ which are threatening to take over.

Level 14 | Age 7–8 | By Kenneth Grahame, Claire O’Brien, Daniel Duncan

This graphic retelling of The Wind in the Willows brings a fresh look to a well-loved classic. Life on the river bank is peaceful for Mole, Ratty and Badger until their friend Toad gets a motor car! Can Toad’s friends convince him to stay out of trouble?

Level 15 | Age 8–9 | By Geraldine McCaughrean, Alex Wilson, David Pavón

Chickens, foxes, horses, tigers, lions and mice this is a marvellous menagerie of tales about tails. Meet Chanticleer the pompous cockerel, Reynard the sneaky fox, the sad Ugly Duckling and many more enduring characters, taken from Chaucer and Hans Christian Anderson and traditional tales from around the world.

Level 16 | Age 8–10 | By Joanna Nadin, Gemma Correll

In The Trials of Ruby P. Baxter, Ruby has troubles at school, a totally embarrassing dad and a goat for a pet, so life can be very trying. Read all about it in her TOP SECRET diary.

Level 17 | Age 9–10 | By Jamila Gavin, Briony Smith

Have you ever wanted something so much that you wished, begged and pleaded every chance you got? That’s how much Abi wants a dog – and then one day Georgie comes bounding into her life, all golden fur and tail-wags. But Abi will need Georgie more than she knows, as she and her best friend start to drift apart.

Level 18 | Age 9–11 | By Janice Pimm, Dynamo

The popular Project X characters Max, Cat, Ant and Tiger rip-jump to the next dimension in the hope of finding the Weaver, but instead they find themselves embroiled in a war between two shape shifting races of human-birds. Can the micro-friends help to save the Parasings from the Eagles, or will they be defeated by an even greater threat the Krush?

Level 19 | Age 10–11 | By Barbara Laban, Meilo So

Paulina has loved living in Beijing ever since her family moved from England five years ago. But when Xia the box turtle finds Paulina in her favourite city park, she’s feeling lost: uncertain about how to improve her written Chinese, confused about why no-one at school will talk to her and unsure how to go about finding new friends. Then, as Xia’s arrival begins to answer some of her questions, it also brings a new mystery – the mystery of Weiting’s grandfather and the turtle’s wish.

Level 20 | Age 10–11 | Illustrated by Patrick Miller, Tim Gibson, Silvio Kiko, Ameorry Luo, Simone D’Armini, Tom Humberstone, Niklas Asker, Emiliano Tanzillo

This emotive collection of poems looks at the harshness of life in the trenches during the First World War, the brutal battlefields of the American Civil War and the senseless charge of the light brigade in the Crimean War. Each poem is told in graphic form, making poems come alive for a modern audience.

The post Oxford Levels: How to support your 7–11-year-old’s reading development appeared first on Oxford Owl for 51��.

How reading programmes can help junior readers

Oxford Owl — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 07:00:31 +0000

When your child has mastered decoding they normally become ‘free readers’, meaning they choose books freely without the structure of reading levels. Children should always be encouraged to read whatever appeals to them – but sometimes structure can help as well.

During the Covid-19 crisis, you may well feel the need to see how your child’s reading is progressing more clearly.��Oxford Levels��can help with this.

‘Oxford Levels’ is a finely graded levelling system that levels books from learning first words all the way up to the end of Year 6 and beyond. It ensures that every book your child reads has just the right balance of challenge and support to keep them progressing while still feeling confident.

Find out more about what each level means and how each level progresses from one to another:

For each of the 21 Oxford Levels you will find:

A description of the suggested skill level divided into word reading and comprehension.
A description of the features of books at this level.
Two annotated spreads from real books at each level, highlighting important features.

If you don’t know what reading level your child is on, you could use the example texts in the guidance to help you and your child decide.

Once you’ve decided what level is appropriate for your child, they should read several books at that level until they are reading confidently with good comprehension before they move to the next one. You can use the notes inside the book covers to test your child’s comprehension skills.

For advice on keeping reading in KS2 fun while still following a reading scheme, read our Developing reading skills as your child gets older��blog post.

Junior reading series from 51��

In our free , you will find examples of Oxford’s leading junior reading series. All books are expertly levelled to provide steady progression, and content is always carefully handled to ensure age-appropriateness.

The series is a continuation of Oxford Reading Tree for older readers. It contains several series within it:

TreeTops Greatest Stories: Retellings of classic stories to introduce children to our literary heritage, hand-picked by series editor Michael Morpurgo. Browse on Amazon >
TreeTops InFact: Lively non-fiction which links to school curriculum subjects, series-edited by TV science presenter Greg Foot.
TreeTops Chucklers: Books to make your children laugh, edited by author of The 100-mile-an-Hour Dog and My Brother’s Famous Bottom, Jeremy Strong.��
TreeTops Reflect: Thought-provoking books to help your child reflect on the world around them and empathise with others.

��also continues for older readers and contains series that can grab your junior child’s attention:

Alien Adventures:��Will appeal to children who like adventure stories and science fiction.��
Graphic Texts: Perfect for those who like to read comics and contains comic strip versions of classic literature.��

Developing reading skills as your child gets older

Oxford Owl — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 06:30:07 +0000

When your child has successfully mastered phonics and word-reading, it can be a time of pride – and even relief! It’s a big and important milestone in a child’s learning journey but, in terms of their reading career, it’s just the beginning.

Children still need to develop their comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary to take them through their junior years and become ready for secondary school. When they reach secondary school, lots of the information they need to access will be presented in a written form. If they can read quickly and efficiently with good understanding, it will help them in all their secondary school subjects.

How you can help your junior reader

Luckily, there’s lots you can do to support your child’s reading in the junior years. Here are some ideas.

1. Read regularly

Encourage your child to read as much as possible, and try to keep reading regular and consistent if you can. Twenty to thirty minutes a day is a good target to aim for.

2. Talk about books

Talking to your child about what they are reading helps to build reading motivation. Your interest will spark their interest, and conversation with you will help them articulate their thoughts, extend their vocabulary, and strengthen their understanding of what they’ve read.

3. Choose interesting books

In general, letting your child choose their own books is a great way to keep them engaged with reading, but don’t be afraid to point them in the right direction every now and then. Be sure to suggest options to them based on their interests, including texts beyond their favourite authors. You can find lots more advice on how to do this on our��How to choose a book for ages 7–11 blog post.

The ��is a great place to find free eBooks for junior readers (Books at Oxford Level 10 and above are likely to be most suitable). We’ve recently added lots more free eBooks to support junior readers during Covid-19 school closures.

4. Choose interesting non-books

Remember that reading doesn’t just have to involve books: magazines, instruction manuals, recipes, and so on all help to build up stamina, understanding, and fluency.

5. Read to your child

As well as asking your child to read to you, it can be really useful to take some time out to read to them too. Research shows that parents often stop reading to their children in the junior years, but there are great benefits to keeping your reading time going. Learn more in our blog post,��.

6. Ask your child questions

When your child is reading to you or with you, you could help them to develop their comprehension skills by asking questions. Below are examples of good questions to ask. Remember to prompt them to justify their answers by referring to the text as well:

What do you think the book will be about?
Can you tell me what’s happened so far?
What do you think will happen next?
Why do you think the character did…?
What do you think the author wants us to think?
How did you feel when…?
Can you think of a similar experience that you’ve had?
Who do you know who is like…?
How did the character change in this story?
What do you think are the most important things in this chapter/section?

7. Consider levelled books

Many children will benefit from adding more structure into their reading experience. Find out more about book levelling for older children in our blog post: How reading programmes can help junior readers.

If you are looking for more guidance on what kinds of questions to ask your child, the books in the have parent notes on the inside covers to help you further.

Video support

What is comprehension?

Get a definition of reading comprehension, exploring how children build their understanding of a text.

Supporting your child’s reading comprehension

Understand how to develop your child’s comprehension as they learn to read with tips from Emily Guille-Marrett.

Money, money, money

Fiona Lazenby — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 06:00:51 +0000

We all want to teach our kids that money isn’t everything, but there’s no doubt that being ‘good with money’ will make their future lives a whole lot easier.

Handling coins and calculating with money in real-life situations outside the classroom can really help children see how important it is in daily life… and talking about money is the first step to great skills!

Read on to find out what your child will learn about money at school, and discover our top tips and activities to support their learning at home.

Please note: This advice was written before the lockdowns caused by coronavirus. Please take into account local government guidance on social distancing when trying these activities.

What do children learn at school?

In Reception, your child will use everyday language to talk about money.

During Years 1 and 2, your child will learn the different coins and notes, the symbols for pounds (£) and pence (p), and how to combine coins to make given amounts. They will solve money problems practically, adding and subtracting to give change.

In Years 3 to 6, your child will progress from making change by adding/subtracting pounds and pence separately to recording money using decimals (for example, ‘£1.52’ instead of ‘£1 and 52p’). This ‘£.p’ format is usually introduced in Year 4. Your child�� will also solve money problems, including multiplying/dividing decimal amounts of money by whole numbers.

Activities to try at home

Here are some ideas for fun, practical activities to help develop your child’s understanding of money and boost their confidence using money in real life.

1. Set up shop

Playing shops at home is a wonderful way of introducing children to the idea of using money through creative play.

Together, decide what to sell – raid kitchen cupboards, toy boxes, or wardrobes to create different types of shop – and price up all the items with sticky notes. For younger children, set prices with penny amounts or whole pounds using numbers they can cope with. Use real or toy coins (or make coin rubbings with paper and crayons to create your own) and take turns to be shopper and shopkeeper.

Have younger children start by just buying one item and counting out the right coins to pay for it. Encourage older children to choose several items and work out totals and change.

Top Tip 1: More online shopping and contactless card or phone payments mean children often don’t see cash being used. Playing with real money can help them recognise different coins and their values.

Activity: Sort the coins

Order the coins by value.

2. Be super shoppers

How do you turn a supermarket shop with kids from frazzling to fun-filled? Playing money games that challenge them to be super shoppers might help!

Start by asking younger children to spot and read different prices. (Printing labels when weighing out fruit and veg is a great of providing non-round-number amounts.) As they learn to add amounts, ask your child to find, say, three items that total £5.

Encourage older children to calculate with money by finding the total of your shopping as you add new items to your basket/trolley. In larger supermarkets, handheld scanners offer a fun way to check, but a calculator on your phone works just as well for keeping track on the go. Or you could just challenge your child to see if their total matches the final amount at the checkout!

Top Tip 2: Decimal points in money amounts can be confusing, especially for younger children. Explain that the decimal point separates the pounds and pence, so £2.99 can be read as ‘Two pounds and ninety-nine pence’.

3. Manage a budget

‘Can I have an ice-cream? Will you buy me a new doll/car/dinosaur/hot-air balloon? Can we go to Disneyland, pleeeeease?!’

Even after children have learnt to calculate using money, they often have little sense of affordability! Involving your child in planning family celebrations, days out, or holidays (real or imaginary) can help them to understand the cost of items and activities. It might even encourage them to save for something they want!

Set a budget and research prices together. How much will it cost to get there? Is there a choice of ticket prices? What will lunch/drinks/snacks cost? How shall we divide the budget between party food, decorations, and presents? Don’t forget to talk about the difference between what they need and what they want!

Top Tip 3: When calculating with money, it can be helpful to convert amounts into pence first, before changing back to pounds and pence after the calculation. This helps your child keep track of where the decimal point should go. For example, to add £4.50 + £2.73, you could change the sum to 450p + 273p = 723p, which can then be turned into £7.23.

I hope these ideas have given you some inspiration for exploring money in a memorable way! Have fun!

Activity: My money

Learn how to organise money with this table.

Year 6 Archives - Oxford Owl for 51������

Countdown to the KS2 SATs: week two

Five tried and tested revision techniques

Areas of the curriculum

Mathematics

Reading

Grammar, punctuation and spelling

Writing

Models for revision

1. Don’t just read

2. Concentrate on the tricky bits

3. Space out your revision

4. Mix up the revision

5. Sitting practice tests

More from Oxford Owl

Countdown to the KS2 SATs: week one

Week one: Staying positive

A positive way to approach the tests

1. We should concentrate on skills and knowledge, rather than the tests themselves.

2. Children are not in competition with each other, but are trying to make progress from their own past performance.

3. SATs can provide an opportunity to prepare for secondary school.

Supporting the process as a parent

1. Learning about the KS2 national tests and assessments.

2. Find out the areas of the curriculum in which your child feels confident and where they feel they might need some extra support.

More tips from Oxford Owl

How to help your child with mental arithmetic

Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2)

1. Flashcards

2. Number bond targets

3. Double and halve

Key Stage 2 (Years 3 to 6)

1. More flashcards!

2. Puzzles

3. Logical thinking

4. Mental arithmetic games and apps

More from Oxford Owl

Video support

Playlist: Times tables tips and tricks

Books and flashcards

Using the Bond 10 Minute Tests

Having a Structured Plan

Why use 10 Minute Tests?

Where do I start?

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Get number confident on National Numeracy Day

How can you take part in National Numeracy Day?

Find out what your child learns in maths at school

Read our top tips to support your child with maths at home on the Oxford Owl blog

Download maths activity sheets (PDF download)

Try these interactive maths activities

Maths activity books and flashcards

Looking forward to the summer term: tips to help boost your child’s learning

1. Don’t tell children they’ve ‘fallen behind’

2. Don’t try and do everything – pick some priorities

3. Make use of ‘stealth learning’

4. Keep �𱹱����ǲԱ�’s wellbeing at the heart of things

5. If you feel like they’re not on track at the moment, don’t panic

More from Oxford Owl

51������ learning books from Oxford

Oxford Levels: How to support your 7–11-year-old’s reading development

Video: How to support your 7–11 year old’s reading development with Oxford Levels

Why use levelled reading books?

Challenging and supporting young readers

How to help at home

More from Oxford Owl

Levelled readers for Key Stage 2 (age 7–11)

How reading programmes can help junior readers

Junior reading series from 51������

Developing reading skills as your child gets older

How you can help your junior reader

1. Read regularly

2. Talk about books

3. Choose interesting books

4. Choose interesting non-books

5. Read to your child

6. Ask your child questions

7. Consider levelled books

Video support

What is comprehension?

Supporting your child’s reading comprehension

Year 6 Archives - Oxford Owl for 51��

4. Keep �𱹱��ǲԱ�’s wellbeing at the heart of things

51�� learning books from Oxford

Junior reading series from 51��