Take the time out of planning your spelling programme. The resource provides the half term overview, teaching points, word lists for use with children in Year 4. Suitable for teachers, parents, homeschoolers and trainee teachers. The remainder of the Year’s plan is available from Teaching Rainbows on TES Resources.

This is a set of maths targets for use with Year 2 children in the first half term of the academic year. Suitable for teachers, teaching assistants, parents, home schoolers and trainee teachers. Can be used at home or at school to monitor progress, for homework or as a group activity. The full set of Maths Targets for Y2 and for Years 1 - 6 is available from Teaching Rainbows on TES Resources.

This is a set of maths targets for use with Year 4 children in the first half term of the academic year. Suitable for teachers, teaching assistants, parents, home schoolers and trainee teachers. Can be used at home or at school to monitor progress, for homework or as a group activity. The full set of Maths Targets for Y1 and for Years 1 - 6 is available from Teaching Rainbows on TES Resources.

This resource is to be used with Year 5 and 6 children working on a story writing unit. Contains success criteria and space for self, peer and teacher assessment.

This is a set of maths targets for use with Year 3 children in the first half term of the academic year. Suitable for teachers, teaching assistants, parents, home schoolers and trainee teachers. Can be used at home or at school to monitor progress, for homework or as a group activity. The full set of Maths Targets for Y3 and for Years 1 - 6 is available from Teaching Rainbows on TES Resources.

This is a single page worksheet to be used with key stage 2 to celebrate each individual as a unique creation. Could be used at the beginning of term to introduce each child to a new class or at the start of a unit of work on relationships education. It was originally designed for a year 6 class to rebuild confidence after the SATs experience!

This resource is a series of strategies to build in thinking time in the primary classroom to promote effective, active participation. The strategies suggested are all tried and tested in Key Stage 2 but there are a number of strategies suggested which would work well with younger or older children. This resource is for you if you are working with children in a group setting and want to encourage more children to take an active role in lessons. So often, less confident children will sit back and wait for other children to answer either because they lack confidence or have learned to tale a passive role in lessons. These strategies will ensure that all children have an equal chance to participate.

Wednesday Work was an initiative I introduced with my Year 5/6 Class following a seminar at the Global Leadership Summit led by Patrick Lencioni. He taught a session based on businesses who had increased productivity by allowing their employees 20% of their working week to follow their own lines of enquiry and plan their own time. These goals had to be in line with the companies aims but gave employees ownership of their time and their direction. This had a significant impact on both employee retention, and productivity. In school, we identified 2 hours a week with Years 5 and 6 and within the theme of that half term’s work, gave the children the opportunity to decide what they would like to learn, do or make. The rules were as follows: A full plan had to be submitted showing aims, outline plans, resources, predicted timescales and intended outcomes. This had to be discussed with a member of staff and resources had to have been either collected in school or brought in from home before work could begin. Each child was accountable for working to a high standard and for their progress in each lesson. Once completed, the results had to be shared with the rest of the class. The outcomes were amazing! Children who usually couldn’t wait for break time were asking to stay in to complete their work! The children displayed a variety of skills and talents and their general confidence grew as a result. Children who struggled with academic learning became experts in their own strength zones and were looked up to by the other children. The highlight of these sessions was a termly open afternoon where the children displayed their work and we invited parents into school for the children to present their work. These afternoons were great confidence builders and really showcased the children’s talents. Give it a try – you won’t regret it!

Developing Effective Group Work This simple resource is designed for key stage 2 teachers looking to promote effective group work in their classrooms. In life, people need to be able to work together but these group working skills need to be carefully developed to ensure that they are effective and positive. Much has been said already about the positive impact of working in groups, but this isn’t always the case. For some children, working in a group can be daunting as they are either over-powered by a more confident person or demotivated because their ideas are not valued. Structuring group work by allocating distinct roles within the group is a means of valuing each child and ensuring that they play an equal part in the decision making. The six roles are as follows: - The Leader The Leader is responsible for managing the group and ensuring that everyone has a chance to speak. They draw the discussions together and summarise what has been said or decided. Scribe The scribe is responsible for keeping a record of what has been discussed and what has been decided. Timekeeper The timekeeper is responsible for keeping time. They remind the leader when time is running out and suggest to the leader that the group move on if they feel that the group are not going to complete the task. Spokesperson The spokesperson is responsible for feeding back to the class at the end of the group task. Encourager The encourager is responsible for offering support to other group members to encourage them to speak and to celebrate good contributions. At the end of the task the encourager should nominate the person they think made the most significant contributions to the task. Challenger The challenger is responsible for challenging ideas. They should be asking the ‘hard’ questions to ensure that ideas are well thought through. Each session the children swap roles so that each child has the opportunity to take on each role. Some will be more of a challenge than others, but each child has a part to play.

This resource is aimed at children in upper Key Stage 2 and Lower Key Stage 3 who need to extend and develop vocabulary - a vital skill for success in both reading and writing. The task involves looking up a range different words and finding synonyms and antonyms. It is great for both teachers and parents interested in developing in children, a love of vocabulary.

This is a set of tips for teachers and parents to help develop a good, strong pencil grip in their pupils and children. Unless children learn how to hold a pencil correctly, it is difficult to develop a clear, fluent and legible style of handwriting. Children with poor pencil grips tend to have greater problems writing neatly at speed and may end up with wrist pain.

This is a set of maths targets for use with Year 6 children in the first half term of the academic year. Suitable for teachers, teaching assistants, parents, home schoolers and trainee teachers. Can be used at home or at school to monitor progress, for homework or as a group activity. The full set of Maths Targets for Y6 and for Years 1 - 6 is available from E4MC on TES Resources.