Hello and welcome.

We are so excited to begin our journey in Year 1!

Here is a helpful guide to what we will be learning this half-term. 

Our topic this term is….

Fairy Tales

We will be looking at different traditional tales throughout this term. We will share lots of different Fairy Tales through story times and focus on Jack and the Beanstalk in detail. The children will enjoy describing the different characters, acting out the stories, making their own story maps and mini books. What is your favourite traditional tale?

Maths

This term we will be focusing on numbers 0-20 and beyond, counting up and back from any number, ordering numbers, comparing numbers, forming the numbers correctly in numerals and starting to write the numbers in words. We will also be working on addition and subtraction of numbers and really understanding our number bonds. We will also be learning how to count in 2's, 5's and 10's. 

Key Words: place value, addition, number bonds, ordering, subtraction, number line, position, sequence.

English

Each morning, the children will work in small groups on phonics. This is a combination of skills to support reading, writing and spelling. We use the Read Write Inc scheme and the children are becoming more and more familiar with 'Fred the frog talk' and green or red words. This learning is supported through reading at home where the children will have their book changed on a Monday and Friday.  It is extremely beneficial to the children if they can read as often at home with you. We always love to hear the children read in school and see their improved progress.

As the children become familiar with different Fairy Tales, they will begin to compare them and notice similarities and differences. Such as 'Once upon a time' and 'Happily ever after'. They will be able to share their ideas about heroes and villains within the tales. This will link to PSHE with understanding about good and bad choices. What do you think about Jack and Goldilocks? Should they have taken the golden hen or eaten somebody else's porridge?

After reading these stories, the children will sequence the main events with a focus on the beginning middle and end of each story. They will write their own little Fairy Tales and the focus will be on writing full sentences with finger spaces, capital letters and full stops. Some children will start to include adjectives to describe the characters.  Throughout our learning, the children are encouraged to form their letters correctly. We will also start to learn capital letters as well as lower case. 

Following on from this we will move on to look at instructions, with a focus on the book 'How to make a delicious honey sandwich.'  We will begin by thinking about what we would need for a teddy bears' picnic and writing short lists to help us to remember everything.  We will then focus on what we need to know to be able to follow instructions, which will lead us on to writing our own set of instructions.

Key words: capital letters, full stops, finger spaces, character, adjectives, sentences. beginning, middle, end, mean, 

Science

As the seasons change we will go on a nature walk to find signs of Autumn. We will think about what changes happen around us between Summer and Autumn, then later in the year will follow this each time the seasons change with a new focus.

Key words: change, seasons, months, temperature, climate, rot, conker, acorn, hibernate, rustling, September, October, November, Harvest.

Computing

With the beebots, the children will learn to give instructions to a friend to lead their beebot up the beanstalk to the castle or into the tower to collect treasure. 

Key words: directions, arrows, forwards, backwards, up, down, left, right, straight ahead, continue, stop, more, less.

Art and Design and Technology

After reading Cinderella, the children will draw, paint and sculpt fairy houses for the Fairy Godmother to live in.  The children will then have the opportunity to use their Design and Technology skills to create a freestanding structure of a fairy house through junk modelling.

Key words: attach, add, colour, transparent, bright, shadow, light, change, reflect, structure, build, attach, connect, stick, glue, card, cube, cuboid. 

Geography

We will think about the question 'What is it like here?'  We will use aerial photographs to recognise local features in the area the children live.  The children will create maps using classroom objects before drawing simple maps of the school grounds.  They will follow simple routes around the school grounds and carry out an enquiry as to how our playground can be improved.

Key words: locate, features, country, city, town, distance, direction, map, aerial photograph, improve, survey, geographical skills, fieldwork.

PE

For indoor PE children will be practising a range of multi-skills.  This will include throwing, catching, jumping and running, building their confidence with these skills each week through activities and games.  For outdoor PE we will focus on playground games including skipping, hopscotch, 'Duck Duck Goose' and 'What's the Time Mr Wolf?'.

PE will be inside on a Monday and outside on a Friday. Please can the children bring their kit to school each Monday, and they will bring it home on a Friday. Please make sure each item has a name on the label, so we can help the children keep their kit together.  In preparation for PE lessons it would be useful if your child could practise getting dressed and undressed themselves, particularly focusing on any buttons on clothes and putting socks and shoes on.

Key words: multi-skills, throw, catch, jump, run, jog, walk, ready, underarm, bean bag, games, skip, hop.

RE

Our theme for Re this half-term is to discuss and find 'What do Christians believe God is like?' 

Key words: God, Bible, Christian, reflection, forgive, forgiveness, believe, beliefs. 

PSHE

We love circle times and this half-term we will use these games and discussions to focus exploring how families can be different, the characteristics and impacts of positive friendships; learning that issues can be over come, people show feelings differently and that stereotyping is unfair.

Key words: behaviour, emotions, feelings, friendly, care, family, friend, problem, stereotype.

Seesaw

Now the children are in Year 1, we have moved over to Seesaw that is used by the rest of the school. This is a fantastic way to show you our learning journey and post pictures and announcements each day. This will regularly be updated with photos of the children engaged in their learning as well as examples of the work they have produced. 

After their day at school, you may like to ask:

'What was the best thing about today?' Use Seesaw as a way to start conversations about their learning from that day. Feel free to shower them with praise when they get home, they will have worked really hard.

USEFUL WEBSITES

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/topics/zf44jxs/videos/1

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/Early-Years.html

http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/freeIndex.htm

www.oxfordowl.co.uk

http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents/

Key Dates:

School Disco Thursday 8th September 2022 3.15-4pm

Roald Dahl Day Tuesday 13th September 2022

Half term October 24th - 28th October 2022

Individual Class Photos Wednesday 2nd November 2022

End of term 21st December 2022

We are sure the children will have a great term and we look forward to working closing with you to ensure your child has the best opportunities and that they enjoy all that we offer in Year 1.