For parents, it’s helpful to have knowledge of what your child is learning about in school, not only so that you can help them with any studying but also so that you can guide them along the right paths when they’re older and taking their exams.Children in the UK will be split into 4 key stages until they reach their A-Levels, where they have the choice to attend college, pursue A-Levels or look at entering full-time employment. As this senior school in Hampshire will discuss, here are the key features of each key stage in your child’s school years to be aware of.
Key Stage 1
This is the start of your child’s curriculum, straight after they’ve finished nursery and reception years. There’s a much stronger focus on mathematics and English skills during the first 2 years of primary school, seeing how their writing, comprehension and literature skills will start to develop.
Key Stage 2
Between years 3 and 6 children will be exposed to a lot more complex elements to maths and English. They’ll be tested on their reading ability, punctuation, grammar and being able to write succinct sentences for comprehension exercises.Other subjects will also enter the frame – art sessions, science, history and religious studies. This is a time in a child’s education where they’ll be exposed to more elements that will interest them and encourage them in their studies. Children will also have their first experience of exams in the form of SATs.
Key Stage 3
Your child will now be in secondary school and ready to face a totally new environment. There are no exams during this period but there will be assessments conducted regularly during class times. Students will now have set lessons across the days to give them the chance to see what they’ll want to study when they reach GCSEs (Key Stage 4).
Key Stage 4
This will be the last stage of the main curriculum and the most important for students. All that they’ve learnt in previous years will lead up to this moment where they’ll be following the curriculum for use in their GCSE exams that are done at the end of year 11.
After Key Stage 4
After your child has finished their GCSEs they have a few choices to consider – whether they want to continue on to do A-Levels (Key Stage 5), head to college, take up an apprenticeship or head straight into full-time work. Give your child plenty of advice and support during this period so that they make the right decision for themselves and their future goals.
*This is a collaborative post*