Year One Team

Miss Powell (1P) & Miss Shuttleworth (1S) 

Mrs Davenport, Mrs Price, Mrs Wilding

Mrs Lavelle, Mrs Gurney 

Mrs Davenport & Mr Wilson (PPA cover - Wed pm)

Important reminders

Please make sure that your child brings their water bottle, reading book and book bag into school every day. Your child may not necessarily read on the same day each week so it is really important that they come prepared every day. We cannot issue the next book until the previous book has been returned. Any lost or damaged books will incur a charge of £5.

Year 1 starts at 8:45am and finishes at 3.15pm. The children line up at their class spot on the playground each morning. The class teacher will come and collect the class from the playground at 8.45am once the bell sounds. Once the classroom door has been shut, you will be unable to drop your child to the classroom door and instead they will need to come through the main reception.

Thank you for your support and understanding. 

What will Year 1 be doing this year? 

Phonics

The children will continue their learning journey with phonics following the Supersonic Phonics Friends approach. We will start the year by focusing on phase 4, which teaches consonant blends. Then, we will progress to phase 5, which teaches lots of alternative sounds.

At the end of Year 1, each child will be expected to undertake a phonics screening check where they have to read 40 words (20 real words and 20 nonsense words).

There will be more information about how we teach phonics in Year 1 and about the phonics screening check at the Phonics Workshop on Monday 21st September.

English

In English this half term, we will start off reading lots of different traditional tales before reading the classic children's book 'The Jolly Postman.' Throughout the year , the children will have the opportunity to read, study and complete learning activities linked to a wide range of books. Some will be classic children's books such as 'Where the Wild Things Are' and 'The Tiger Who Came To Tea,' and some will be more recent picture books such as 'The Pet Potato,' 'Lost and Found' and 'Tidy.' The children will have lots of opportunities to discuss what they like and dislike about the stories, to sequence the main events and retell the stories orally using a story map and talk for writing strategies before completing written retellings or even writing in role as some of the characters. 

We will also be exploring non-fiction. The children will have the opportunity to explore non-fiction books during English lessons throughout the year, in the classroom reading areas and during guided reading. Once the children are familiar with non-fiction, they will have the chance to write their own non-fiction texts.

We will also be reading and performing a range of poetry throughout the year. It is really fun for the children to explore actions, expression and volume when performing and it is a fantastic way for them to develop confidence too. 

Throughout Year 1, our main writing focus will be on constructing and writing sentences with capital letters, full stops and finger spaces in the correct places. We will also be focussing on letter formation and handwriting.

Maths

Maths in Year 1 focuses on counting forwards and backwards, representing numbers, counting one more and one less, using a number line, using part part whole models, addition and subtraction and comparing objects and numbers using greater than, less than and equal to symbols. Initially, we will work within 10, then move on to working with numbers within 20, then 50 and finally up to 100.

Maths lessons will be fun and, as much as possible, practical. The children will have the opportunity to use things like counters, tens frames, scales, measuring snakes and other resources to help secure and develop their mathematical understanding. The children will also be challenged with reasoning and problem solving tasks to help deepen their understanding of concepts. 

Science 

In Science, we will be learning all about animals including humans. The children will be taught about the five animal categories -  mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds and fish. We will also explore the diets of some animals to establish whether they are herbivores, carnivores or omnivores. When learning about humans we will discuss what makes us different to other animals and learn specifically about our five senses and the body parts that they are related to. 

The children will also begin to explore seasonal change throughout the school year as the seasons change. The focus will be on naming the different seasons, knowing what months the seasons happen in, knowing how we would dress during the different seasons and identifying signs of change from one season to the next; including what happens to the trees/plants, what different animals do, how the weather and day length changes. 

The children will also be learning all about everyday materials. They will learn to distinguish objects from the materials they are made from (wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, rock) and describe simple physical properties of materials like hard, soft, or waterproof.

In the Summer term, the children will complete a unit of work on Plants. They will identify common wild and garden plants, learn the basic structure of flowering plants and trees, and distinguish between deciduous and evergreen trees.

Religious Education

In Religious Education, the children will have the opportunity to respond thoughtfully to a range of stories from Sikhism and Islam. The stories have important messages and morals and the children will be encouraged to explore these and how they can be related to their own lives. In RE lessons, the children will be able to hold and explore various religious artefacts and will learn why they are important. We will also be looking at the story of creation, thinking about questions that puzzle us about the world and looking at the Christian festivals of Easter and Christmas and why they matter to Christians.

History

Our first History unit in Year 1 is looking at everyday life in the time of our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. The children will have the opportunity to explore different aspects of everyday life in the past and compare them with life today, such as shopping, transport, houses, toys and schools. The children will be able to handle historical artefacts and photographs, as well as going on a trip to the Black Country Museum.

Our other History unit in Year 1 is the 'Great Fire of London.' This is an opportunity to look at a historical event beyond living memory. This is an exciting topic, which the children become really engaged with. They will start off learning about what London was like in 1666 and comparing it with life in London today. The children will then move on to investigating the causes of the fire and why it spread so far using historical sources. They will also look at the damage caused by the fire, some significant individuals who wrote about the fire and they will investigate how London was rebuilt after the fire.

Geography

In Geography lessons, the children will start the year by learning about the geography of our school. We will look at aerial photographs and create our own maps and routes around school using geographical vocabulary and symbols. Throughout the year, the children will look at a range of different maps and have the opportunity to create their own maps and plan routes around the local area. They will also look in detail at the four countries of the UK, with a particular focus on the capital city of London.

In a cross-over with Science, the children will also be looking at seasonal changes throughout the year with a focus on how the weather changes in different seasons. 

Physical Education

Year 1 will have P.E every Wednesday and Friday.

Please ensure that your child comes to school wearing the correct school P.E kit on these days.

Autumn:

Team Building

Gymnastics

Spring:

Dance

Fundamentals

Summer:

Ball Skills

Invasion Games