Year 1 2023 - 2024

Welcome to Year 1

Welcome to the Year 1 page! This is where you will find out about what is happening in Year 1. We will update our page regularly with information that you will need so if you're ever unsure, please check here.

Year 1 CMLR- Mrs May and Mrs Rowlands Our class saint is Saint Francis of Assisi and our classroom is Amelia Earhart		Year 1SL - Miss Lawrence  Our class saint is Saint Bernadette of Lourdes and our classroom is Mother Theresa
Mrs May	Mrs Rowlands	Miss Lawrence

Information about Year 1

Staff in Year 1:

• Miss Lawrence, Mrs May and Mrs Rowlands- teaching staff. 
• Mrs Buckmaster & Miss Chartres

PE Lessons

PE lessons are on a Wednesday afternoon with Mr Stevens. The children are to arrive at school in their PE kit and will wear it all day. The children can wear trainers and do not need pumps at the moment. We will let you know when PE will take place outside when the children will need to wear joggers and a sweatshirt or fleece in colder weather. They may also bring a spare pair of socks in their book bag in case they need to change after the lesson. 

The children need to bring to school each day - their book bag, water bottle (water only) and a healthy snack. Afternoon snack is provided. The children will read in class as part of their phonics lessons. We also ask the children to keep their reading books inside their book bag daily as there will be opportunities throughout the week to read with an adult. 

Fact Files

We use fact files in school to help your child understand more about the topics covered during the school year. These contain key dates from the time period studied, vocabulary discovered during learning and some key facts and information about the topic.  

Please see below for links to Year 1 Fact Files. 

Phonics Screening

During Year 1 there is an emphasis on phonics. In June each year, the children participate in a Phonics Screening check to ensure that they have acquired the phonic knowledge needed to progress with their reading and writing.

The Phonics Screening Check is a test in a one-to-one setting with a teacher. During the Phonics Screening Check, children are asked to read (decode) 40 words. Most of these words are real words but some are pseudo-words.

Phonics sounds mats can be found below.

Homework 

Homework newsletters are sent home every other week. Attached will be an activity or two to do at home. Please keep these at home and practise these skills. 

Autumn Term 2023

During the Autumn Term the children will be following a transition curriculum where they will gradually move from working in an EYFS type classroom setting with continuous provision for the children to access independently throughout the day, to working in a more formal Key Stage 1 setting. During the Autumn term the children will work in small teacher led focus groups as well as taking part in whole class teaching sessions and independent learning with their peers. 

In their English work the children will look at the books 'Oi Frog!' by Kes Gray, 'Lost and Found' by Oliver Jeffers and 'Nibbles by 'Emma Yarlett'. They will work on writing simple sentences and beginning to use capital letters and full stops.

In maths we will be focussing on place value to 10 including addition and subtraction. The children will learn about part-whole models, ten frames, bar models, base ten etc. They will also begin to use the equals sign and the inequality symbols < and >.

The children will learn about Hoole and Chester in their geography work, and will learn about toys from the past in history. We will become fantastic historians and geographers. 

In art they will work on their mark making skills with a particular focus upon spirals. They will experiment with lots of different media and create art both indoors and outside.

In DT, the children will research, design, make and evaluate structures. We will build an enclosure to keep Nibbles the Book Monster from eating any more books! 

In Science, we will be learning about materials and their properties. We will complete several experiments by testing different materials and discussing their suitability. 

Spring Term 2024

In English, the children will be reading the book 'The Lion Inside.' They will continue to focus upon using capital letters and full stops and will be introduced to using question and exclamation marks. The children will use this text to write their own version of the story.

In maths, the children will start by learning about place value (numbers within 20) and addition and subtraction (numbers within 20). They will then progress to learning about the place value of numbers up to 50. The children will end the spring term learning about measurement. (Length & height and mass & volume). 

In science we will be asking questions to find out about humans and other animals. We will investigate our five senses and use our observation skills to group animals.

In geography, the children will be learning about the UK. They will learn how to locate the countries that are part of the UK on a map and begin to name the capital cities. 

In art, the children will be making careful observations of feathers using a range of media. They will learn collage skills and how to turn 2d drawings into 3d pieces of artwork. Each child will make their own bird using these skills at the end of the half term. 

Summer Term 2024

In English, the children will be starting the term reading the text ‘Somebody Swallowed Stanley’. The children will be writing lots of facts about sea animals and learning about looking after the planet. We will continue to work on using capital letters and full stops more consistently. They will also be introduced to using the prefix ‘un’.

In maths, the children will be applying their addition and subtraction knowledge to help them to solve word problems. They will also begin working with numbers up to 100. Later in the term we will introduce multiplication, division, fractions and time.

In science, we will be starting our unit of work on plants. The children will learn to identify and name a variety of common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees. They will also identify and describe the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees.

The children will be learning about castles in history. They will compare different types of castles and name some common features of them.

In art, we will be starting our work on simple printmaking. The children will use their hands to make prints, and take rubbings of textures from the environment around them. They will make “plates” by making impressions in plasticine, and then by using printing foam. They will also explore how they can build up images by creating multiples, and use line, shape, colour and texture to explore pattern, sequencing and symmetry. 

Later in the term, the children will be designing, making and evaluating their own fruit kebabs as part of our DT project. They will learn how to prepare fruit safely using chopping skills.

Year 1 Curriculum Plan

Please click the link below to see the exciting things we will be learning this year in Year 1.

Year 1 Curriculum Plan