Year 1
Hello and welcome to Year 1’s class page
In Year 1 we are taught by Mrs Cunliffe and supported by Mrs Stead.
In Year 1 we are kind, friendly and we take care of each other. We always try our best and have lots of fun whilst we learn.
Over the year, children are encouraged to become independent learners and understand the importance of having a ‘can do’ attitude. In this year we learn to hand in our own reading books, come into school by ourselves and manage our own bags, coats and shoes. We also have homework and learn our spellings at home.
In Year 1 we get up to all sorts of exciting things! Our teaching and learning is cross-curricular and is based around our half-termly topics. Throughout the year we will be exploring, learning and investigating through our topics which include Toys, Wonderful Weather, Arctic Adventures, Where do I live? and Homes in the Past. Through these topics we develop reading and writing skills, as well as using our investigative, imaginative and creative skills to make our learning engaging and fun!
In Year 1 we often use class books to deliver our writing curriculum. Where possible, we try and link these books to our class topics or our Science learning. We use book talk and drama to capture our ideas and we use these to produce our writing. We also incorporate EGSP (English Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) in our English lessons. Here are some of the key texts we will be enjoying this year:
- Leaf Man
- Traditional Tales e.g. Goldilocks and the Three Bears
- The Rabbit Problem
- Lost and Found
- Footprints in the Snow
- Tin Forest
- A Squash and a Squeeze
In Year 1 we will read a chapter of our whole class book every day to encourage a love of reading and the children will take part in discussions to develop their comprehension skills. This term we are reading Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl.
To celebrate our love of reading and reading for pleasure we have our class reading journal that goes home with a child once a week. This is then filled in after they have read a book and they share their review with the rest of the class. The sharing so far has been amazing and has created some fabulous dialect and conversations. During our book club sessions we celebrate the books that children have been reading and then they give recommendations.
As a school, we follow the Little Wandle phonics programme, using a wide range of physical and online resources to support this. Every child has access to a phonics session each day with intervention opportunities for those who find this area of learning more difficult. Little Wandle have a very handy page for parents so please feel free to take a look and make use of this:
Phonics Check
Towards the end of Year 1, we are sent a ‘special challenge’ from the aliens! This is called the ‘Phonics Screening Check’. The children are given a list of 40 words, some real words and some made-up (alien) words. They have to sound them out so that they can read them independently.
Here are some useful resources/games to help your child get ready for the Phonics Screening Check in a fun and engaging way:
Obb and Bob (Sort the real and alien words)
Phonics Games for the Classroom and Home – Phonics Bloom
It would be amazing if you could count with your children on a daily basis. You could make it part of your morning routine whilst travelling to school or even whilst making breakfast!
In Year 1 we have a huge focus on number bonds to 10 and 20. It would really benefit your child if you helped them to practise these at home.
For Maths, our school follows the White Rose Maths Hub scheme of work. Here is what we will be learning throughout the year using a range of practical resources:
- Place Value
- Addition and Subtraction
- Shape
- Measurement: Length and Height
- Measurement: Weight and Volume
- Multiplication and Division
- Fractions
- Money
- Time
Our topics in Science are ‘What’s it made of?’ ‘Amazing Me’, ‘How does your Garden grow?’ ‘Food Glorious Food’ and ‘Going Wild!’
In Year 1 we love to use our 5 Scientific Enquiry superheroes in our Science lessons:
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- Comparative & Fair Testing
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- Changes Over Time
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- Researching
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- Identifying, Classifying & Grouping
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- Pattern Seeking
Our PE days in Year 1 are Wednesday and Friday. Our focus this half-term with Mrs Cunliffe is Gymnastics. Our focus with Mrs Collins is Fundamental Skills – including throwing, balancing, hopping, jumping and catching.
Please ensure your child arrives in school each week with the correct PE kit (sometimes it is easier to bring it on a Monday to ensure it isn’t forgotten for our PE lessons, or for any extra activities that we may do!) and is clearly labelled with their name! Thank you.
Computing
In Computing we learn some basic IT skills on a laptop using a range of software, including Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint. We also learn simple coding, where we learn that programs execute by following clear instructions. The children then develop the understanding that programs respond to inputs to do different things, in a game-themed way.
Useful Documents/Links for Year 1 Parents and Carers to support learning at home:
Year 1 Tricky Words for Parents – Little Wandle
Reception-Grapheme-Mat phase 2-3
Year-1-Grapheme-Mat phase 2 3 5
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/levels/z3g4d2p – BBC Bitesize KS1
https://ictgames.com/ – FREE English and Maths games online