Year 1
Red Class – Mrs Owen and Mrs Kearns
Yellow Class – Mrs Henwood and Mrs Brown
Aqua Class – Mrs Hillman
Our Topics |
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|---|---|
Autumn: |
Step into Darkness |
Spring: |
Making a Splash |
Summer: |
Time Travellers/Shiver Me Timbers! |
Welcome to Year One!
We are thrilled to welcome you and your child to Year One! This is an exciting time as children transition from the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) into Key Stage One. Our curriculum is designed to foster independence, build on previous learning, and introduce wider educational opportunities.
In Year One, children will experience a range of engaging lessons, hands-on workshops, and exciting activities that spark curiosity and deepen their understanding. We place a strong emphasis on phonics consolidation to support early reading development, ensuring that every child builds a solid foundation for their literacy journey.
Our goal is to encourage independence and confidence in learning while providing a nurturing environment where every child can thrive. Throughout the year, there will be opportunities for parents to engage with their child’s learning, and we look forward to working together to support their progress.
We are excited for the year ahead and can’t wait to see the incredible growth and achievements of our Year One learners!
Reading
Reading is a very important part of learning which will help your child progress in all areas of the curriculum. Your child will choose a school book, appropriate for their reading level, to bring home each day. Please try to hear them read at home every evening, record how they did in their reading notebook and then return it to school the following day.
How to read with your child (Video)
Phonics
When supporting your child with their reading, you may find it useful to refer to the grapheme mat below. As well as the individual alphabet sounds (e.g. the 'd' sound in 'dog'), your child will also learn digraphs (sounds with two letters) and trigraphs (sounds with three letters).
Little Wandle Grapheme Mat (PDF)
Tricky words
In Year 1 it is expected that children will read tricky words, or be able to fluently apply their phonics to read them. Throughout the year children will also be learning to spell these words. Some of these words are 'tricky words' that cannot be sounded out (e.g. said) and some of these words require the children to apply their phonics knowledge (sounds).
Maths
Throughout Year 1, we use the NCETM spines to deliver an inclusive, inspiring and engaging mathematics curriculum, enabling the children to be numerate, creative, independent, inquisitive, and confident. A mastery approach to the National Curriculum ensures the pupils spend a sufficient length of time on each unit so that they are secure using and applying their new skills before moving on to tackle new concepts. The small steps that we have broken our curriculum into enable pupils to deepen their understanding and, as they progress through the curriculum, build and extend their skills and understanding. We also use the NCTEM Mastering Number, which supports our teaching of fluency and mental maths. We use a number of different manipulatives and strategies to support their learning.
STEAM
Our STEAM curriculum is designed to make logical and meaningful connections between the different disciplines (Art, DT, History, Geography and Science.) A coherent curriculum ensures that the content, skills and learning experiences are aligned and integrated in a way that enables children to develop and embed their learning into the long-term memory.
We have carefully chosen the people we learn about their contribution to industry advances to ensure all children are encouraged to be aspirational and see themselves, their cultures and learning strengths included in our curriculum whilst also selecting industry examples that celebrate and include both local and national cultures so that all children, who naturally have different starting points and life experiences, benefit equitably from the same high-quality, inclusive and aspirational curriculum. The very intent and core purpose of our curriculum is to empower children.
Year 1 STEAM Curriculum Overview (PDF)
Things to Remember
Please send your child in with a named water bottle every day
Book bags should be brought to school each day
Your child’s PE kit should be in school during term time
All belongings should be clearly labelled with names
