Welcome to Year 1

Mrs Clarke, Mrs Cooksley and Mrs Walker

Autumn 1 

This half term we will have a History focus as we ask 'Do I play with the same toys as my grandparents did?'. We will begin by describing present-day toys before identifying toys from the past and thinking about how we can tell they're from the past. We will then investigate whether there are any toys from the past that we still play with today and explore how these toys may have changed over time. We will use our historical enquiry skills to order given toys along a timeline and then compare both past and present toys to identify differences and similarities within them.

English 

This half term we will be reading various texts including 'Dogger' by Shirley Hughes, 'Traction Man' by Mini Grey and 'Nothing' by Mick Inkpen. We will complete lots of book talk activities such as making predictions, looking at the vocabulary and retelling and responding to the texts. We will use our phonics to spell words independently as we write labels, lists and captions whilst also focussing on correct letter formation. We will continue to master our sentence writing skills of using a capital letter, finger spaces, a full stop and applying phonic knowledge when spelling.

Our daily Little Wandle phonics sessions and 3 reading sessions a week continue to underpin all of our English learning.

Maths

In Maths this half term we will be covering three different Maths units. We will start off with ‘Numbers to 10’ during which we will represent and compare numbers within 10. We will also find one more and one less than these numbers and practise doubling and halving them. After this we will cover ‘Addition and subtraction within 10’ as we represent and explain addition and subtraction. We will explore the commutativity property and learn some addition and subtraction facts. Our final maths unit for the half term will be ‘Shape and patterns’. We will identify, describe, sort and classify both 2D and 3D shapes. We will also investigate repeating patterns and follow instructional and positional language.

Science

In Science this half term our focus unit will be 'Everyday materials'. We will be exploring different materials and using correct scientific language to name them and describe their properties. We will also be comparing different materials and using our understanding to sort and group them in different ways.  Towards the end of the unit we will be investigating what material we could use to make an umbrella for Ted the Teddy.  The children will suggest which material would be most suitable. 

In addition to the above, we will begin to investigate the seasons and the changes we notice as we move through Autumn and into Winter.

RE

In RE this half term our focus religion will be Christianity and our theme will be 'The creation Story' as we explore the answer to this term's key question 'Does God want Christians to look after the world?'  We will think about how we feel when we have created a model or a piece of art work.  We will be reading and understanding the Creation story from the Bible and will imagine what Christians think God might be feeling when He sees the world now and how humans are treating it.    

Art

In Art this half term our focus skill will be printing and our focus artist will be Andy Warhol. We will begin by observing carefully and noticing similarities and differences of shapes in objects. We will then make observational drawings of a toy before learning how to shade in colour using pencil crayons. After this we will explore the artist Andy Warhol who used printing to repeat pictures. Next, we will design and make a mono-printing block using polystyrene. Finally, we will create our own piece of art using bright colours and a printing pattern in the style of Andy Warhol.

PE

PE this half term will focus on Football on Wednesday. Year 1 will also be taking part in Forest School this half term and this will be on Thursdays. On both Wednesday and Thursdays, children should come to school dressed in their PE kit which consists of – plain black bottoms, a plain white polo top or a plain white round neck t-shirt, their green school jumper or cardigan and trainers. Children will need wellies for Forest School and these can be brought into school and kept at school for the whole half term.

Computing

In Computing this half term we will begin with an online safety unit focussing on safe log ins. We will also explore Purple Mash and create an avatar. We will then complete a grouping and sorting unit using a program on Purple Mash.

The children can use Purple Mash at home too.  I will send home more details of how to access it at home at a later date.

PSHE

In PSHE this half term our unit will be 'Being me in my world’. We will begin by exploring the different ways we each feel special and safe. We will then move on to recognising our individual responsibilities as a member of our class and identify the ways we all belong in our class. After this we will identify key rights and responsibilities for our class as we agree on some key class rules. Next, we will recognise and celebrate reasons to be proud of ourselves and discuss how it feels when we are rewarded for our efforts. Towards the end of the unit we will learn that all of our choices have consequences and that sometimes these can be positive but other times they may be negative. Finally. we will all agree on a shared learning charter for our classroom.

Reading

Reading books need to be brought to school to be changed on Wednesdays please. Children will bring home their Little Wandle book, a phonics reading book and a library sharing book.

Our expectation is that children read at least 3 times a week with an adult. Reading records will be checked every week. Please do jot down any reading at all that children are doing into their reading records so that we can reward their fantastic efforts.

Home learning

Home learning books will be sent home on Fridays to be returned to school on Wednesdays and will have a focus on Maths learning.

Websites to practise key skills at home:

Maths Links:

Use the following links to practise these key Year 1 number skills:

- Counting in 2s, 5s and 10s up to 100

- Recognising odd and even numbers

- Finding 1 more and 1 less than a given number

- Partitioning 2 digit numbers into tens and ones

- Number bonds and facts to 10 and 20

- Finding doubles up to 10 and finding halves from 20

English Links:

Use the following links to practise these key Year 1 reading and writing skills:

- Segmenting and blending all sounds

- Breaking longer words into syllables to read them

- Reading contracted words (I'm, don't, can't etc)

- Reading and spelling tricky words and common exception words

- Forming capital and lowercase letters correctly

- Writing sentences with capital letters, finger spaces and full stops

- Extending sentences using 'and' and other conjunctions (but, so, because, then, with)

- Developing sentences by adding adjectives and using different sentence openers

Other Learning Links:

Use the following links to practise knowledge and skills from other areas of the curriculum:

Activities to practise key skills at home:

                     Representing Numbers                 Maths                        Quick Maths

                                              Phonics              Common Exception Words               SPaG

                     Daily Online Activities         Maths and English Ideas          Practical Ideas

                                   KS1 Maths Games                     Year 1 Number Games

Resources from SEND Supported:

We work with a company called SEND Supported at school and they are releasing newsletters each week offering support and guidance to parents of children who many have additional needs in school. Please find below a link to these newsletters:

There are also lots of other resources and information available on their website. The 'Things to do Issue 2 - Resources' file has some lovely activities for all children regardless of whether they have additional needs or not. There are lots of great visual puzzles and games for children to play so please have a look if you can. There are also resources available now to support with developing children's memory skills in 'Thing to do Issue 3 - Resources.'