Welcome to Year 1

Teacher: Miss Kozij

Teaching assistant - Miss Moran

Autumn 1:

Welcome to Year 1 class page! Please read below to find out information about important dates and what you will be learning about this term!  

English

Our literacy focus for the start of the Autumn 1 half term will be based on the funny and adventurous story The Bumblebear by Nadia Shireen. We will meet Norman, a bear who absolutely loves honey and decides to disguise himself as a bee so that he can join Bee School! As we explore the story, we will think about characters, feelings, friendship and making good choices, while enjoying Nadia Shireen’s wonderfully funny illustrations and storytelling.'. 

During our guided and independent writes we will be working on the following steps to success:

- Capital letters

- Finger spaces

- Phonics

- Full stops

-Tall and small letters 

During our Literacy lessons this half term, we will be focusing on forming our small letters, full stops, capital letters and correct spacing between words.  Throughout the unit we will then move onto writing our sentences independently by thinking of our sentence first, saying it out loud, writing it and then checking it. We will also look at using conjunctions such as 'and', 'but' and 'because' to extend our sentences and using expanded noun phrases to add detail to our writing. 

Maths

We will begin by sorting and counting objects, learning to count carefully and accurately and recognising that the last number we say tells us how many objects there are altogether.

The children will explore different ways to represent numbers to 10 using practical resources such as cubes, counters, ten frames, pictures and number lines. We will practise counting forwards and backwards, counting on from different numbers, and finding one more and one less.

We will also learn how to compare and order numbers and groups, using mathematical language such as more, fewer, less, greater than, equal to, most and least. By the end of the unit, the children will be using number lines and practical resources to explain their mathematical thinking and solve simple problems involving numbers to 10.

Throughout our learning, we will encourage the children to explain how they know, use mathematical vocabulary and show their answers in different ways. We will be developing confident mathematicians who can talk about numbers and explain their thinking.

Topic

This half term, Year 1 will be learning all about “Where We Live.” We will begin by thinking about our own homes and the places that are familiar to us. The children will explore their local area and learn to identify key features such as houses, roads, shops, parks and other important places.

We will develop our understanding of maps and geographical vocabulary, learning how to use simple maps and symbols to represent places. The children will also explore the difference between human and physical features, such as buildings and roads compared with rivers, trees and parks.

As we learn more about our local area, we will talk about where we live within the UK, making connections between our local community and the wider world. Through practical activities, map work, discussions and observations, the children will develop their geographical skills while becoming more curious about the place they call home.

Science

This half term, Year 1 will be learning all about animals, including humans. We will explore the different groups that animals belong to, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and insects, and learn to identify and describe some of their key features.

The children will learn about the five senses and how humans use their eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin to help us understand the world around us. We will also explore how animals, including humans, change as they grow and develop, noticing similarities and differences between young animals and adults.

Through practical activities, observations, sorting games and discussions, the children will develop their scientific vocabulary and learn how to observe, identify, classify and describe animals and humans. We will encourage the children to ask questions and make observations about the amazing world of animals around them.

Religion - Creation

This half term, Year 1 will be exploring the theme of “Creation – Lighting the Path.” We will think about the wonderful world around us and explore the Christian belief that God created the world and everything in it.

The children will explore the Creation story from Genesis, thinking about the different things God created and why Christians believe the world is special and should be cared for. We will talk about how we can show love, care and respect for people, animals and the environment.

Through stories, discussion, artwork, prayer and reflection, the children will consider how we can be lights to others by making kind and caring choices. We will encourage the children to wonder about the beauty of creation and think about how they can help to look after the world and the people who share it.

As part of our Catholic ethos. we love to involve family life within our school life and may ask you for photos of special events or people, such as baptism, Christmas and other important celebrations to reflect upon in our weekly Collective Worship sessions. 

PE

This half term you will need to come into school wearing your PE kit on our PE day which is a Monday. In PE you will be learning about invasion and team games skills with Mr Casey outside and circuits skills in the hall. 

Homework

Reading – 10 minutes a night

Listening to your child read for 10 minutes a night makes a significant difference in their progress and attainment. It helps them practice key reading strategies and skills, develop their comprehension skills and supports their overall fluency and accuracy, which are vital skills they need for the future. Every Friday an eBook will be assigned to your child’s online account based upon the sounds they have learnt in phonics that week. The children will have practiced this book in their guided reading sessions so will be familiar with the text. The purpose of them practicing it again at home is to become more familiar with these sounds and fluent when reading them.

Your child will also choose a reading for pleasure book. This is a book that you can both read and enjoy together and encourage reading for pleasure. This will be a physical book that your child takes home and they will be given the opportunity to choose and change every Friday. As it is a reading for pleasure book, it is not necessarily aimed at your child’s reading level, therefore can be challenging, which is why we are asking for an adult to read this and your child to join in where possible. The reading for pleasure book is important as it is how we will help build a love of reading together.   Please ensure your child brings this back to school every Friday ready to change in our school Library.

Reading eggs – once a week      https://readingeggs.co.uk

Reading eggs makes learning to read interesting and engaging for kids, with great online reading games and activities. Children love the games, songs, golden eggs and other rewards which, along with feeling proud of their reading, really motivate children to keep exploring and learning.

My Maths and Mathseeds – once a week       https://mathseeds.co.uk/

Every Friday, your class teacher will set home learning for your child on MyMaths.co.uk. This will be based upon what they have learnt that week so your child can practice the skills taught at home to reinforce key strategies.  

Mathseeds is an online website that your child can use to develop pupils’ confidence and fluency in Maths and the interactive lessons provide step-by-step examples to break down learning into manageable chunks. The log in for this is the same one you use for reading eggs.

Phonics home learning – once a week

Every Friday, we will send home a phonics learning log in your child’s book bag for them to practice over the next week. The sheet in their book each week will have the list of sounds your child has learnt that week, words and sentences for them to read and write with these sounds in and then a list of tricky words that the children need to know. These words will be familiar to them and ones they have practiced in phonics sessions.

You can then practice these sounds further on fastphonics (www.readingeggs.co.uk/fast-phonics-games), which is the same log in as reading eggs.

Learning logs – Autumn  2, Spring 2 and Summer 2

Last year we introduced our project-based home learning to replace the homework board we previously used. Pupil, parent and teacher voice all showed that project based home learning was the preferred style of home learning as it gave children more freedom to learn about real life world events, share personal experiences and it has helped motivate them to engage in home learning as it is child managed. It encourages the children to be more independent, inquisitive and provides more opportunities for outdoor learning together. This can be completed in your learning log, a scrap book of your choice or it can be uploaded onto Seesaw.

Instead of completing these every half term, we have reduced this to three half terms a year to make it more manageable. They will therefore be given out on the first Monday of Autumn 2, Spring 2 and Summer 2.  We ask that their project is brought into school on the last week of that half term to share and celebrate with their peers. You will be given a sheet of paper that will be stuck in your child’s learning log that will outline what the project is and ideas of activities you can do.