June 2022

We know that summer holidays can go by in a flash and going back to school can sometimes feel a little difficult. So, we’ve put together the ultimate back to school digital survival kit using some of our best blog posts, stress relief tips and freebies from last year to try and make your back to school transition as fun and stress-free as possible. 

With over 6,000 schools using our Progress Tests for Reading, Maths, GPS and Science, we asked teachers to share how they use Progress Tests with their classes.

We are delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted in the SEN, Wellbeing and Foundations cateogry of the Teach Primary Awards!

We're super excited to tell you all about the launch of the Rising Stars Summer Reading Challenge!

In this blog we'll tell you all about how you and your child can get involved and be in with a chance of winning a £60 Go Ape voucher. We'll also take a look at why and how you should be encouraging your child to read for pleasure.

On Friday Education Secretary, Damian Hinds launched the #SummerOutdoors campaign encouraging children and families to explore the outdoors during the holidays. This kicked off this morning with this tweet from the DfE offering 5 great suggestions for enjoying the outdoors this week.

The Department of Education has released their School Sport and Activity Action Plan, detailing the importance of children leading full, healthy and active lives from an early age and the positive effects that this can have on children’s mental health. 

On 9th July 2019, the DfE released the interim results for the KS2 National Tests.

Attainment in individual subjects

• In reading, 73% of pupils reached the expected standard, down by 2 percentage points from 2018.
• In maths, 79% of pupils reached the expected standard, up by 3 percentage points from 2018.
• In GPS, 78% of pupils reached the expected standard, which remains unchanged from 2018.

St John Vianney is a larger than average Catholic primary school, with two-form entry, based in Blackpool. In March 2018 they were rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted and their outstanding teaching of English and Early Literacy means that they are now one of thirty-two national English Hubs supporting other schools. They use PiRA, PUMA, GAPS and MARK (our free online assessment and reporting tool) three times per year, to support teachers in validating their judgement and identifying learning needs of individual pupils and classes. The assessments are used from Years 1 - 6, to ensure a consistent approach throughout the school.

Catherine Casey gives her top fun tips for parents in supporting their children with spelling.

This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing and the first man to walk on the Moon. To help celebrate this, we’ve put together some space-themed lesson ideas and accompanying videos from our sister publisher Franklin Watts and Wayland’s space range for you to share with your pupils. Scroll down to browse and download.