Year 1
Welcome to Year 1
Welcome to Year 1! We are a class of 28 pupils who are very fortunate to be working with lots of adults including Miss Wallace (class teacher) as well as Miss Nicholson, Mrs Ford and Miss Cowan (teaching assistants). Mrs Dubre (PPA cover) will be working with us too.
In Year 1, we value every child’s contribution and place a big emphasis on showing respect and kindness to one another. We understand the importance of adopting a growth mindset by embracing and learning from mistakes in order to grow our independence and resilience as learners.
Year 1 Key Information
Classroom Routines
Reading
Reading is a highly significant part of your child's learning! Regular reading not only supports them in building secure foundations as a reader but also enables them to access the whole curriculum. Because we value its importance, we dedicate time throughout the school day for appreciating a variety of quality texts; we do this through our English lessons and through story time sessions.
Every child in Year 1 will be provided with a Reading Record. This is a useful tool that we use as a communication network for parents to share their child's successes as a reader and to identify any areas that we can work together in order to strengthen their skills as a well-rounded reader. Reading records should be kept in their book bag with their reading book and should be brought to school every day as they may be required for reading sessions at school.
We ask that you read with your child at least three times a week, completing and signing the record each time. These books are 'decodable books' which the children are encouraged to read aloud regularly as this builds up their fluency across every single read. Since we are passionate about fostering a genuine love of stories and being read to, we will also be sending home a Library Book for your child to enjoy listening to. Additionally, if children are interested in an alternative book that they have at home, please feel free to listen to your child read these books or you could read them to your child. By prioritising reading, you will undoubtedly help to promote the value, importance and love of reading. We aim to change reading books every Friday.
Please note, those children who can evidence at least three signatures per week will be entered in a weekly reading reward draw to win a prize!
Homework
Homework will be handed out on Fridays and Miss Wallace will explain the activities to us. Homework tasks will typically include a short maths task, reading activity and handwriting practice. We ask for all homework to be handed in by the following Tuesday at the latest.
Please note, we also encourage children to use our online learning platforms to further support their learning.
PE
We have PE on Mondays and Thursdays with Mr Graham. Please make sure your child has:
- a plain T-shirt (the same colour as their School House);
- unbranded black or navy leggings/joggers/shorts; and
- a pair of trainers.
Earrings are not to be worn during these sessions. Please note, it is advised that your child's earrings are taken out for our PE days so that they can always take part in the fun!
Communication
We share learning, updates and resources on ClassDojo. If any parents have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Miss Wallace via ClassDojo. Please also feel free to post and share photos and videos too! This is a really strong way of keeping our learning up to date and staying connected with our class. If you have any difficulties accessing ClassDojo, please contact the school office for further support.
Statutory Tests in Year 1
In the Summer term, Year 1 children will sit the 'Phonics Screening Check. This is not a formal test but a valuable way to ensure that children are making sufficient progress with their phonics skills. By prioritising phonics, it helps them to read increasingly difficult words words and become fluent readers who can enjoy reading for pleasure and for learning. This also helps to equip them with the reading skills necessary for their next step in their educational journey: Year 2.
Curriculum Areas
Phonics
For phonics, we follow the Read Write Inc. phonics scheme of work which helps us to practise our reading and spelling. Read Write Inc. is a daily, fast-paced, rigorous and structured phonics programme. We read a text multiple times, focusing initially on fluency before building up to reading with our 'storyteller voice'. After our confidence with the text has grown, we are encouraged to read a text for meaning to develop our reading comprehension.
There are some brilliant, free websites for your child to access to consolidate their phonics knowledge, including:
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
http://www.oxfordreadingbuddy.com
English
Our English lessons are often linked to a key text or to special events that are happening in our world. Across the year, we will be reading and taking inspiration from a range of texts such as 'Owl Babies', 'Not Now, Bernard', 'Voices in the Park' and a variety of traditional tales.
In Year 1, we primarily work on on building up our independence as writers. We do this by focusing on developing our spelling, punctuation and grammar skills, such as using capital letters, finger spaces and full stops as well as forming our letters correctly at sentence level.
Mathematics
Our school follows the White Rose Maths scheme of work with a focus on Teaching for Mastery. In Year 1, we focus on deepening our knowledge and understanding by completing daily fluency, reasoning and problem-solving activities alongside lots of concrete resources, such as Dienes, multi-link cubes and tens frames. By completing activities with practical manipulatives, this helps us to bridge the children's understanding from the practical stage through to the abstract stage. The topics we will be studying are:
- Number: Place Value (Within 10, Within 20, Within 50 and Within 100)
- Number: Addition and Subtraction (Within 10 and Within 20)
- Geometry: 2D and 3D Shapes
- Geometry: Position and Direction
- Measurement: Length and Height
- Measurement: Mass and Volume
- Measurement: Money
- Measurement: Time (o'clock and half past times)
We also complete daily arithmetic practices to help us to build our confidence and retain our previous mathematical knowledge. Our arithmetic tasks will focus on building up our understanding of reciting number names, number bonds, doubles, halves and shape names.
Science
We love to deepen our understanding of scientific concepts by carrying out experiments. In Year 1, we will be learning about a whole host of extremely interesting topics, including:
- Animals, Including Humans
- Seasonal Changes
- Use of Everyday Materials
- Plants
History
Our first topic for History is ‘How Do I Find Out About Me?’ where we explore our own personal timelines. We will also be comparing our lives to our parents and grandparents. It will be very fascinating to see how times have changed between generations! In Spring term, we study the topic 'How Have the Local People Impacted Our World?' to consider the importance and legacy of local people including William Wouldhave and the famous heroine Grace Darling. Finally, in the Summer term, we will be looking at 'How Have Homes and Our Village Changed Over Time?' where we compare past and present homes to ultimately explore how Witton Gilbert has changed over time.
Geography
Our overarching focus for Geography in Year 1 is developing our knowledge of the local area. In the Autumn term, we explore 'What My Place is Like?' by taking our learning outside, following and sketching maps of the school grounds. In Spring, we focus on 'What Can I Find in My Corner of the World?' where we identify a range of human geographical features and physical geographical features around the village. During the Summer term, we investigate 'What is Our Country Like?', identifying countries and capital cities of the United Kingdom.
Physical Education
In PE, we will be partaking in a range of fun and exciting sporting activities to help us to practise our throwing and catching skills as well as our coordination and agility skills.
In Year 1, we will participate in:
- Basic moves
- Throwing, catching, sending and receiving games
- Multi-skills
- Tag rugby
- Dribbling and dodging games
- Dance
- Gymnastics
- Racquet skills
- Rounders
- Athletics
Music
Throughout the year, children listen to a range of music and explore pitch, rhythm, singing and composing.
PSHE and RSE
For our PSHE lessons, we plan and adapt our lessons according to the needs and interests of our class. The topics we explore are typically based on current issues and inspiration is also taken from the Jigsaw units of work. These include:
- Being Me
- Celebrating Differences
- Dreams and Goals
- Healthy Me
- Relationships
- Changing Me
Half termly, we will be reading a quality story suggested from the 'No Outsiders' PSHE scheme. These stories are used to inspire discussions and activities that promote inclusivity and freedom of speech. Through this, we are encouraging children to explore and accept the person they are, and we will show they are all welcome without judgement.
Computing
We follow the Teach Computing scheme of work to develop our computing knowledge and skills. At the start of every lesson, we focus on an aspect of Online Safety to ensure we are confident in staying safe online.
Our Computing units are:
- Computing Systems & Networks - Technology All Around Us
- Creating Media - Digital Painting
- Programming - Moving a Robot
- Creating Media - Digital Writing
Art and Design
In Art, we follow the Access Art scheme of work to build on our skills and knowledge. We get to use a range of art mediums and resources such as clay, paints and oil pastels to explore our creativity and create a range of individual art pieces.
Our art units are:
- Drawing & Sketchbooks - Spirals
- Paint - Exploring Watercolour
- Sculptures - Making Birds
Design Technology
Every other half term, we will be undertaking a DT project in which we evaluate existing designs to get inspiration and design our own before making and evaluating our final product. We focus on a range of skills throughout the year and often link our projects to other areas of the curriculum.
Our DT projects are:
- Textiles - Bunting
- Mechanisms - Levers and Sliders
Religious Education
In Year 1, we focus on Christianity to gain a deeper understanding of Christians' beliefs and religion. We explore what special objects can be found in a Christian church as well as study religious celebrations such as Christmas and Easter stories. In the Summer term, we begin to look at Buddhism and Hinduism.