Teaching & Curriculum

• How will both year groups follow the right curriculum?
  • Each class will have a carefully planned curriculum that ensures Reception and Year 1 pupils work towards their respective learning goals. Teachers will use a wide range of approaches to meet the developmental needs of every child, ensuring the right balance of whole-class, small group, and individual learning. Some learning will be done together as a class and some will be done in year groups. 
• How will the curriculum be differentiated for Reception and Year 1 children in the same class?
  • Our approach to timetabling will allow us to target appropriate teaching styles and supportive approaches to each group of children. Some lessons lend themselves to differentiation and adaptation whilst others will require separate teaching opportunities. Some curriculum areas (such as geography) will require Year 1 to be taught separately, others (such as science) can be taught and experienced through continuous provision with elements of discrete teaching as required. During independent learning time Year 1 children will have additional challenges to complete based on Year 1 learning objectives. 
• How will you ensure that high-achieving Year 1 pupils are appropriately challenged and reception children fully supported given their age difference?
  • The learning environment will be designed to meet both needs. Many educationalists highlight the positive effect of an Early Years approach to teaching and learning in KS1 (and beyond) so this will enable teachers to spread this approach into Year 1. At Hillside Avenue we always aim to meet individual needs, our mixed year group classes will be no different; all children will be taught, challenged and supported where they are. For some children that will mean additional support for learning through continuous provision whilst others will benefit from individual challenges from the staff.
• How will play-based learning for Reception be balanced with the more structured Year 1 approach?
  • Play-based learning (continuous provision or independent learning to the children!) will be available to all children in the class. Staff will use some of this time to deliver more structured teaching and learning sessions to the year 1 children. This might be an additional maths session, additional writing sessions or another part of the curriculum.  
• Who will be teaching the classes?
  • The mixed-age classes will be led by Miss Ireland, Ms Richards, and Mrs Williams - three experienced and dedicated teachers. They will each be supported by a full-time teaching assistant. This means every class will benefit from strong adult support throughout the day, something we’re really pleased to be able to offer.

Classroom Management & Grouping

• Will class sizes be larger?
  • No. All Reception and Key Stage 1 classes remain within the standard maximum of 30 pupils. With three classes and six adults across the year group, we’re well placed to provide a nurturing and engaging environment where children can flourish.
• How will children be grouped during lessons—by age, ability, or task?
  • This will vary depending on what is being taught. There will be times when the class is taught together, this is really important to ensure they feel like a class group! They will access continuous provision/ independent learning activities together and engage in lots of the foundation subjects curriculum together. There will also be times when the children are grouped by year group so that they can be taught year group specific content appropriately. Phonics will be taught in ability groups as it is now in both Reception and Year 1. 
• Will parents have an opportunity to express a preference for which teacher our child has?
  • The starting principle for class organisation will be that current Reception children will be allocated to a class by discussion between the current Reception teachers and Miss Pendleton.
  • Ability, gender, social interactions and age will all be taken into consideration
  • If parents have requests for promoting positive combinations of children or avoiding difficult combinations they can let the current teacher know and it will be taken into consideration. 
• How will you ensure that Reception children aren’t left behind or overwhelmed, and Year 1s aren’t held back?
  • The three class teachers are incredibly skilled at adapting their teaching and lesson planning to meet the individual needs of the children in their class. The Early Years approach means that Reception children will be able to access play-based learning and will have time and space to learn at the appropriate pace. The Year 1 children will be taught and assessed against the Year 1 curriculum. They will continue to access play based learning that we know is so important for young children, while also receiving teaching input each day at a Year 1 level. 
• How many reception children will there be and how many will be in each mixed class?
  • Current numbers are showing that there will be 41 children in the Reception year in 2025/26. These children will be allocated evenly to the three classes, so there will be 13 or 14 Reception children per class.
• Will summer born children who have been deferred to start reception age 5 still be grouped with reception children and under the eyfs curriculum and not the key stage 1 curriculum? 
  • Yes. All children will be registered in the appropriate year group. So a 5-year-old child who has a deferred entry to school will be registered in the Reception cohort of children.
• Will reception children still have continuous access to an outdoor space? 
  • Yes. Both year groups will have access to the amazing outdoor space. In practice, the Reception children will access it more often as they will have more continuous provision in their weekly timetable. The Year 1 children will access it too though.

 

Assessment & Progress

• Will Year 1 children fall behind by being in a class with Reception pupils?
  • Our teachers are highly skilled at tailoring learning so that each child is challenged at the right level. In fact, opportunities to revisit and explain concepts to others can strengthen children’s understanding, something many Year 1 pupils benefit from. Every child’s progress will continue to be closely monitored and supported.
• How will progress be monitored across two curriculums (EYFS and KS1) in one class?
  • The class teachers have a thorough knowledge of the Reception and Year 1 curricula. Every day, teachers make assessments of children’s attainment and progress - this is called Assessment for Learning (AfL). The teachers will know what each child is working towards in their learning and will be able make those assessments continuously each day.
• What steps will you take if a child appears bored, unchallenged, or frustrated?
  • Throughout the school, all children should be engaged in their learning and should feel that the learning activities are just hard enough to challenge them but not so hard they feel overwhelmed.  All school adults monitor their class continuously to identify where the challenge needs to be adapted to meet the child’s needs. This will also be true of the Reception and Year 1 class next year.
• What is the frequency of feedback that parents can expect on how their child is progressing in this mixed-age setup? i.e. more than two parents evenings in an academic year. 
  • Any parent who feels that they would like to have more feedback on their child’s attainment and progress at school should always talk to the class teacher in the first instance. If the class teacher feels that a higher level of communication between home and school is needed to support the child in school, then they will make contact with the parents too. 
  • The teachers are available before and after school and via Tapestry. Tapestry is a great form of communication and one with which all current Hillside parents are already familiar. Families new to Hillside will receive a log in as soon as possible. 

 

Transition & Long-Term Impact

• What are the benefits of this mixed-age approach for Year 1 children?
  • Year 1 children will enjoy the benefits of being in our well-equipped early years environment, including daily access to our outdoor learning space. They'll continue working with familiar staff and routines, supporting a smooth transition into more structured learning. They'll also receive targeted teaching in small groups for key areas like phonics and maths, ensuring they stay on track and thrive. We’ll continue using Tapestry to share and celebrate their progress with you.
• How will this model affect children’s transition into Year 2?
  • The three teachers are aware of the demands of Year 2 and are committed to smoothing the transition towards the Year 2 classroom. The Year 1 children will be provided with increasingly challenging opportunities to work independently, with an adult and by recording their learning with a paper and pencil. This will enable them to build their writing stamina and handwriting so that they will be ready for the Year 2 curriculum.
  • Like all transitions throughout school, teachers will be in contact with staff in the following year group so that they understand where the children are and what they have experienced. Transitions are carefully managed. 

 

Support & Communication

• What can parents do at home to support their child’s learning and wellbeing in a mixed-age class?
  • We will be encouraging parents to support their children in the same ways as we always do. No need to make any changes to this due to the mixed year group classes. Parents play a crucial role in supporting their children's learning and adjustment through transitions at school. They can encourage their child's independence, curiosity, and resilience, as well as actively participate in school events and communicate with teachers. Additionally, parents can support their child's learning at home by engaging in daily reading/phonics work and other home learning activities. We always encourage parents to talk to and engage with their child about their learning at school and read regularly together for pleasure. Current Reception children will already be in a great routine with reading their phonics reading books at home and parents will be used to writing in their reading record. This will continue. The families new to Reception in September will have all of the routines and expectations explained once their child is settled into phonics sessions and is ready to take home reading books. Teachers will continue to make home learning suggestions for all the children in their classes. If they feel particular children need specific support at home they will speak to families individually about this as they always would have done in a Reception or Year 1 class
• How will you involve parents in reviewing how well this new setup is working?
  • As a school, we are always looking for feedback from parents. It is feedback that helps us to improve our provision for the children of Hillside Avenue every day. This also applies to the organisation and execution of this mixed-age class model. This is obviously a big change for us all to manage and therefore constant communication with parents is going to be essential for the school to be able to know what parts of the plan need to be adjusted so that every child is able to flourish in their school journey. We will seek your input on regular occasions to make sure that we get this right for every child.