NON-NEGOTIABLES

WHAT ARE THEY?

Each year group has a set of NON—NEGOTIABLES that children and all adults should know. These are basic expectations that must be mastered for a child to be at AGE RELATED EXPECTATIONS (ARE). They usually include targeted spellings, key punctuation, basic maths facts etc.Children in KS1 may know these as "Always Skills".

The National Curriculum requires us to try and develop children’s mastery of a range of skills and knowledge appropriate to each year group . We talk about a child being at AGE RELATED EXPECTATIONS (ARE)  if they are reaching this required standard.

Our curriculum is based on the Southroyd Promise which ensures that we deliver the National Curriculum with rich, real life experiences and offer our children a broad and balanced curriculum. We look for ways for children to apply these basic ARE skills across the curriculum.

One of our key tools for doing this is our NON -NEGOTIABLES.

What are my child’s non–negotiables?

We would like you to  know about your child’s non negotiables—ask your child and find out about them at your Parents’ evening meeting.

They should be visible in class and will soon be on our website. They are helping your child to be competent, develop independence and finally be   automatic in their basic skills.

Children cannot be assessed at ARE if they don’t meet a certain set of criteria. We are trying to equip our children to be confident and automatic in this criteria.

When you visit your child’s teacher please collect a copy of your child’s NON NEGOTIABLES so you can work on them at home. We want to increase your child’s confidence, fluency and automaticity with these, as this will help them better cope with the rest of the curriculum.

HOW DO THEY WORK?

School staff will ensure children know what their non—negotiables are and understand them. Each classroom will have visuals, strategies and tools to help children to be independent in using and checking their non-negotiables. We will be marking for and feeding back on the children's successful, automatic use of these .

Here is an example of some of Year 5s Non -Negotiables, so you know what to look for:

Y5 General

• I will write the date and LO, underlining them with a ruler.
• I will maintain the highest standards of presentation.

Y5 Maths

• I will use Y5 calculation strategies.
• I will select the correct operation when solving one step problems.
• I know all my times tables, including division and related facts.
• I can read proper fractions.

Y5 Across the curriculum

• I will punctuate the end of sentences correctly (. !  ?).
• I use capital letters correctly for the start of sentences, proper nouns and appropriate pronoun contractions e.g. I’ll, I’m.
• I will use Standard English forms for verb inflections instead of local spoken form, e.g. ‘we were’ not ‘we was’.
• I will use neat, joined and legible handwriting consistently.
• I will use a range of sentences openers, including fronted adverbials, using commas where appropriate.
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