I have just changed school and I am working with a composite 5/6 class. The class consists mainly of very low ability children most of whom have not achieved first level in literacy and numeracy (and a good amount who will not achieve it this year!) Only a couple of children (literally two!) are ready for second level. So should my overarching topics (Social Subjects, RME, PSHE, Health and Expressive Arts be taught at second level as their stage suggests they should or first level, which is where they are at in maths and language. My own acting HT feels that first level should be right but I have spoken with others, one of which said as far as they understood you teach at second level because its the skills they get. My concern is that they lack the literacy and numeracy skills to to poor ability, do they then have the first level skills in other areas to build a basis of support before revisiting more complex skills. Any thoughts and opinions are appreciated!