Year 1
Welcome to Year 1
Welcome to Year 1! We are a class of 29 pupils who are very fortunate to be working with lots of adults including Miss Wallace (class teacher) as well as Miss Cowan, Mrs Hardy and Miss Nicholson (teaching assistants). Mrs Bailey (PPA cover) will be working with us too.
In Year 1, we value every child’s contribution and are very big on showing respect and kindness to one another. We understand the importance of adopting a growth mindset by embracing and learning from mistakes.
Year 1 Key InformationYear 1 Long-Term Planning Overview (2024-2025)Year 1 Weekly Timetable (2024-2025)
Classroom Routines
Reading
Reading is an essential part of your child's learning. Regular reading helps them to build solid foundations as a reader and allow them access the whole curriculum. Every child in Year 1 will be provided with a Reading Record. This should be kept in their book bag with their reading book and should be brought to school every day as these 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. We will also be sending home a Library Book for your child to enjoy listening to. Additionally, if children have a book of interest they are reading at home, please feel free to listen to them read these books or read them to them to help them to read for pleasure. By doing this, you will help to promote the value, importance and love of reading. We aim to change reading books every Monday.
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 may include Maths tasks, reading activities or Phonics practice. There will also be a Homework Grid where you will choose three activities per half term to complete. We ask for all homework to be handed in by the following Tuesday at the latest.
Please note, we encourage children to use our online learning platforms to further support their learning. Children's Sumdog logins can be found in their Reading Record.
PE
We have PE on Mondays with Mr Graham and Thursdays with Miss Wallace. 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.
Trainers are only permitted for P.E. purposes and trainers should not be part of the school uniform. Earrings are not to be worn during these sessions. It may be worthwhile to take your child’s earrings out on 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 a phonics screening check. This is not a formal test, but a way to ensure that children are making sufficient progress with their phonics skills which helps them read words and become fluent readers who can enjoy reading for pleasure and for learning.
Curriculum Areas
Phonics
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', 'Lost and Found', 'Voices in the Park' and a variety of traditional tales. We also focus on developing Year 1 spelling, punctuation and grammar skills, such as using capital letters, finger spaces, full stops and forming our letters correctly.
This half term, we are focusing on retelling fairy tales and letter formation.
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 and multilink cubes. We also complete daily Flashback 4 quizzes to help us to build our confidence and retain our previous knowledge.
This half term, we are focusing on Place Value Within 10.
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 ‘Changes Within Living Memory’ where we explore our own personal timelines. We will also be comparing our lives to our parents and grandparents. It’ll be very fascinating to see how times have changed between generations! In Spring term, we become 'History Detectives' and explore how Witton Gilbert has changed over time. Finally, in the Summer term, we will be looking at 'Who Has Helped Make History?' to consider the importance and legacy of Beatrix Potter.
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
Our PSHE lessons are adaptable based on the needs of our class, however, we do also take inspiration from the Jigsaw units of work which are:
- Being Me
- Celebrating Differences
- Dreams and Goals
- Healthy Me
- Relationships
- Changing Me
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
- Data & Information - Grouping Data
- Creating Media - Digital Writing
- Programming - Programming Animations
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 undertake a DT project in which we evaluate existing designs to get inspiration, 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:
- Making Healthy Sandwiches
- Puppets
- Moving Pictures
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.