A Parents’ Guide To The Key Stage 2 Curriculum

Collaborative Post

A child’s education is divided into four key stages; Key Stage 2 is taught to pupils aged 7-11 in Years 3 to 6. If you’re a parent of a child in this age range, you probably have some questions about the curriculum and what your child is learning about in their lessons. A prep school in Leatherhead have put together the following guide to help parents understand the KS2 curriculum a little better.

Independent schools are not obliged to follow the National Curriculum, but many of them do stick to it. It outlines the specific topics and subjects that should be explored during lessons and how the pupils should be assessed. There are 11 compulsory subjects at Key Stage 2:


1. English
2. Maths
3. Science
4. History
5. Geography
6. IT/Computing
7. Ancient/Modern Foreign Languages
8. Music
9. Art & Design
10. Design & Technology
11. Physical Education


Religious Education is another subject that should be taught, according to the National Curriculum for KS2. However, if parents don’t want their child to learn about other religious beliefs outside of their own, they can have their child excluded from these lessons.


If you would like to find out in more detail what topics your child’s teachers are covering in their lessons, you are more than welcome to visit the school and ask for an outline of the curriculum. You can then make an effort to explore the same themes at home and when you’re out and about, to help your child retain what they’re learning in class.


At the end of each of the key stages, all children are assessed on their performance and how it measures up to the national average. At the end of Year 6, before children move up to Key Stage 3, they must take a formal test which are typically known as SATs. Parents are advised to help ease the pressure where these formal tests are concerned so that the pupils don’t feel too stressed or anxious about them.

Many schools now take a less formal and more supportive approach when it comes to SATs, with relaxed revision clubs or free breakfasts at the start of the day to help ease the children into the day.

As with most school and education things though, the key is to support your child as much as possible.

Mummy Snowy Owl
xx