Welcome to Year 1

Hello! Welcome to the Year 1 class page. Your experts at handing wobbly teeth and lost jumpers Mr Gray and Mrs Clennell are delighted to be taking the children on their next step on their learning journey. Year 1 is a very exciting time and we are thrilled to be sharing the time with the children and their families. Here you will find all the information about what, and how, your child will be learning this year.

You will also find at the bottom of this page photographs of work the children have completed throughout the year. 

The Year 1 teacher this year is Mr Gray and Mrs Clennell. Mr Gray will teach your child on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and Mrs Clennell will teach on a Thursday and Friday. Mrs Hannon and Miss Gillespie will be the year 1 teaching assistants this year. At times, other members of staff from around the school may be working with individuals or groups.

We are very fortunate in Year 1 to have two classrooms. We have a large indoor classroom, which provides the areas of learning children will be familiar with. We also have a Key Stage One outdoor area, with opportunities for children to complete outdoor and active learning activities to reinforce their learning.

Curriculum

We aim to provide a curriculum that will meet national expectations and is tailored to suit the needs and interests of your child.

Our morning timetable is taken up with Read, Write Inc, English and Maths. English will be taught in small group activities, as the children become more independent with their writing. Children will move towards more whole class and independent tasks as the year progresses. There will be a focus on using and applying the phonics program during this time to help build confidence with basic writing conventions. As the year progresses, we shall encourage the children to use more complex spelling patterns in line with National Curriculum expectations. Handwriting will be a focus for the children this year. In Year One the children will follow a handwriting scheme that is used by the rest of the school. They will be starting to learn pre-cursive script. 

We shall be teaching a daily "flashback maths" lesson, whereby children get to practice and develop their counting and number skills. Children will also enjoy very hands on and practical maths lessons to help them secure their knowledge of number and other mathematical concepts. Once the children develop their skills, we shall stretch them by applying our knowledge to wider contexts.

Through conversations, marking and assessments, we will be setting personalised targets for each child. These targets are designed to help the children take ownership for their learning and feel more in control of their educational journey.

Our aim for the children in Year 1 is to create lifelong learners who are ready for work in an ever-changing economy. With this in mind, we (as a school) have invested heavily in new ICT equipment. This will allow the children to become literate in both Windows and Mac operating systems. The class find working with new technology very exciting and they are fabulous instruments to help enthuse and engage the children. Throughout the year we shall be creating simple algorithms and patterns as well as manipulating saved and unsaved data. With new technology comes a sense of the unknown however and it is therefore at the heart of computing curriculum that we verse the children in how to communicate safely online by regularly showing the children e-safety sessions.

Non- Core Curriculum

During our Topic work, children will be heavily involved in the planning stage, choosing tasks and learning challenges. Research has shown that when children are actively involved in shaping the classroom decision-making, they are more productive and active in class. During the year your child will enhance there skills in a range of national curriculum subjects ranging from Science to Music.

Science, RE, ICT, PE and Music will be taught by Mr Gray and PSHE, History, Geography, Art and Design Technology will be taught by Mrs Clennell.

Homework

Year 1 is a crucial year in the journey for children learning to read. It is for this reason that we prioritise reading as the main homework activity. Children have a reading book from school and we would like them to read every night for a short time. An adult should read with the child and support them, asking questions and generally sharing the story. The adult should write and comment in the reading record daily if possible. The expectation is that each child will get a new book every week.

Each child will receive maths homework weekly. We use Power Maths at Caedmon and your child will receive a work booklet to complete throughout the year. A slip will be provided by Mr Gray and Mrs Clennell on a Monday asking children to complete specific pages within the work booklet. This is to be returned on a Friday with reading books and records so it can be marked. 

Your child will also receive a weekly phonics game or task to complete, this is to prepare them for the phonics screening tests that take place in Summer term. 

PE

P.E will take place every Tuesday. During covid-19 children are expected to arrive at school already in a home PE kit. Clothing must be suitable for sports and children must wear trainers on this day.