Welcome to the Year 1 Class page. You should be able to find everything you need to know about our curriculum using the links on this page.

Year 1 Teachers

Mrs Francis (Monday- Tuesday)

Mrs Leake (Wednesday- Friday)

Mrs Davine (Thursday morning)

Topics

For the first half of the Autumn term, our topic is Terrific Toys. As a part of our topic, we are going to be reading some lovely texts and stories featuring toys, including Lost in the Toy Museum by David Lucas and Traction Man by Mini Grey. The children will learn how to make moving toys in D.T, discover how toys have changed over time in history and in science, they will look at the properties of materials and go on an Autumn walk as the season progresses.  We will spend time in PSHE establishing class routines and rules, making sure everyone feels safe and happy in the classroom, so learning can take place. For the first couple of weeks, we will be letting the children settle into Year 1 while we complete baseline assessments and get to know the children as individuals. We strongly encourage children to be children and play is a huge part of their learning. Working in a small group with us allows your child to receive more support and feedback in the moment to help their confidence grow as they become more independent with reading, writing and mathematics. Rainbow challenges set up in play allow children to practise skills previously taught and help consolidate learning. As the year progresses, the structure of lessons will gradually become more formal, so the children are ready for more formal learning when they move into Year 2. A Year 1 phonics talk will take place once the children are settled, where parents are invited in with Mrs Francis to discuss the lessons and content covered for the year.

After the October half-term, we theme lots of our learning around the story Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers. We learn about the cold weather in the South Pole and make links to science and geography. More about this later in the year!

In the Spring term our topic is Once Upon a Time. We read and write fairy tales, learn about castles and build them in DT and art. We learn about the countries in the United Kingdom and take a trip to Mountfitchet Castle in Stansted. More about this later in the year!

Our Summer topic is On Safari, where we explore the continent, Africa and learn about the animals and people who live there. We learn new skills such as weaving and printing and enjoy listening to stories from this wonderful part of the world. More about this later in the year!

Homework

Homework activities will be sent home and a copy will be uploaded to our page for reference. Please do not feel pressured into completing every piece, we understand that family life can be very busy so just do what you can manage. Regular reading with your child is the most important thing you can do so if you do nothing else...

Read, Read, READ! 

PE

PE will be on a Monday (indoor) and Thursday (outdoor) each week.

Please ensure your child has a named PE kit in school, long hair is tied up and earrings are removed. Please also make sure that the spare socks are included in their kit.

Swimming Lessons

Swimming lessons with 'Get in the Swim' will be on a Thursday afternoon, so please ensure your child has their swimming kit with them, including a named hat. For further swimming information please refer to the school newsletters.

Reading decodable books

Your child will bring home reading books with words that use the sounds they have been learning in school. You may hear these reading books called ‘decodable books’. Use the prompts inside the front and back covers to enjoy the book together and help your child practise blending their sounds to read. It is important that over a week, your child reads 4 times at home to embed new learning.

Useful things to do when you are at home: