Year 1
WOW what another great start to the half term Year 1 have had! The Year 1 team could not be any happier with the progress the children are making in all areas.
We had a fabulous start to the half term on our visit to the Rainbow Factory where we were introduced to our new space topic. First, we had to help the people who landed from space get used to our planet and tell them about it. We then went to the special story corridor and learned some space stories as well as hunting for space treasure. Next, we learned about the order of the planets and what colour they were. We also made our own space alien using salt dough and other crafts. In the afternoon, we learned about the size of the planets and how they revolve around the sun. After, we learned about our planet Earth in more detail. Finally, we learned about how pollution is changing our planet. The children (and staff) had a fantastic day and the children remembered so much information! It was a perfect start to our new topic :).
In maths, we have concentrate on 2D and 3D shape and I have been particularly impressed with the children's enthusiasm with this topic. Year 1 have been answering some very tricky questions and the way they have used mathematical language has been lovely to see. In phonics, we are currently revisiting the set 2 sounds and the class definitely seem more comfortable this time round. We have also been concentrating on the Year 1 superhero spellings and thinking of ways to remember them. The Y1 team have been blown away by the recent 'big writes'! The children's attitude and engagement has been fantastic and I cannot wait to read their letters to Santa on Tuesday, I am sure it will be their best yet!
In topic, Year 1 have LOVED learning about Neil Armstrong, the amount of facts/information they can recall is staggering and it has certainly impressed any adults who have visited our classroom. We especially enjoyed watching the videos showing the rocket take off and land on the moon. We have also been learning some songs to help us remember the order of the planets. Again, these have proved very popular and I am regularly asked if we can watch them 'just one more time'. I am sure some of you have had to watch them at home as well! We are now practising for the Christmas performance and I am so proud of how the children have learned the songs and are learning their lines. I cannot wait to see the final performance :).
Lastly, a big thank you for all your help/support this term. I have loved working with Year 1 and to see the progress they have already made has made me so proud. The way they have transitioned and adapted to life in Year 1 has been brilliant and their attitude has been faultless. I will certainly miss them but I will be coming back to see them when I can! I know how excited Miss Cuthbertson is to get started and I could not be handing over the class to a better person.
If I do not get a chance to see you before next Friday, have a lovely Christmas and New Year!
Miss Thackray
Welcome to Year One
A very, very warm welcome to Key Stage One! I hope you enjoy reading our class page, where topic information will be updated ready for the start of each half-term and latest news will be updated fortnightly on a Monday. As always, there will be lots of photographs uploaded after all the exciting activities and events we get up to!
The Year One staff team consists of Miss Thackray, Mrs Naylor, Mrs Crabtree, Mrs Shaw, Mrs Meek, Mrs Stubbs and Mrs Lowe. Mrs Naylor will support the class every morning, Mrs Crabtree will support on a Wednesday afternoon and Mrs Shaw will support Thursday and Friday afternoons. Mrs Meek will teach Year 1 on a Monday afternoon when Miss Thackray is out of class. Mrs Stubbs will support on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning and Mrs Lowe will support on a Wednesday afternoon, Thursday and Friday.
We are really looking forward to our time in year 1 this year, and hope that you are too!
Miss Thackray and the Year 1 Team
Upcoming Events
25.11.19 - Show and Tell (Group 2)
29.11.19 - Miss Thackray last day
02.12.19 - Show and Tell (Group 1)
09.12.19 - Show and Tell (Group 2)
10.12.19 - Christmas Performance (2.00 - 3.00pm)
12.12.19 - Christmas Performance (10.00 - 11.00am)
13.12.19 - Christmas Jumper Day
14.12.19 - School Christmas Fair
16.12.19 - Show and Tell (Group 1)
06.01.20 - Training Day
13.02.20 - Parent Event (PM)
22.05.20 - Parent Event (PM)
Latest News
PE days for autumn 2:
Tuesday - Multi Skills (outdoor)
Thursday - Multi Skills (outdoor)
Mr Elliot will be taking PE sessions for weeks 2, 3 and 4. Mr Elliot is the schools PE curriculum lead and I know he is very excited to work with Year 1.
Miss Thackrays last day in school will be Friday 29th November.
Well done Year 1 on a fabulous first half term in your new year group. The Year 1 team have been blown away by how well you have settled and adapted to your new classroom. The progress you have already made both socially/emotionally and academically has been outstanding and I know this will continue :).
This half term is always an extra exciting one!! As well as all our normal learning we will also be starting to rehearse for our Nativity performance. The KS1 team have already discussed what we are doing this year and we are all super excited. Towards the end of the half term we will also be doing some Christmas craft activities which hopefully will help get even more into the Christmas spirit.
Important Information
- Reading books will be changed every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please can you write the name of the new book in the reading record and sign when they have read the book. We will not be able to change the book unless the record has been signed. It is always helpful to leave a comment and it is something that the Year 1 team really appreciate.
- Show and Tell will be on a Monday afternoon. I have split the class into 2 groups meaning children will be able to show something every other week. Children with a surname beginning with A-L will be in group 1 and children with a surname beginning with M-Z will be in group 2. Please look at upcoming events to keep up to date with the rota.
Homework Expectations
Learning Logs will be given out on Friday indicating skills to be practised. Learning logs need to be back in school the following Wednesday. Some homework will be over longer periods to enable research and the date for completion will be indicated on the log. In Year 1 the children have a session to share homework with classmates and staff. Pupils get the opportunity to see each other’s learning and discuss findings. This enables the children to really engage with homework by sharing good ideas and information. All homework is related to what’s going on in the current curriculum and supports their classroom learning. All homework is read by Miss Thackray and initialled.
Children need to read daily and discuss their reading. At the bottom of the page I have added a document with a list of possible questions you can ask your child when you are reading with them. Your support with reading is greatly appreciated and really enhances learning.
Curriculum this half term
Topic
Our new topic is 'Moon Zoom' and the children will be learning all about space. At the start the of the term children will spend some time looking at why Remembrance Day is important and why we have Bonfire Night. In history, we will be looking at Neil Armstrong in detail and seeing how he is similar/different to Tim Peake. In art, the children will be learning about Van Gogh and replicating his Starry Night picture. In DT we will be looking at how to build a rocket and constructing/making our own. We will also be learning some songs about space to help us remember the order of the planets and some facts about them.
English
In English, we will continue to concentrate on writing sentences using capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. We will also be focusing on writing on the line with our letters the right way round. We will have a 'Big Write' every Thursday morning where we will look a bit closer at these areas.
In addition, we will begin to look at joining letters using our cursive script. This is something we will concentrate on all year and lots of support will be given to both children and parents to help with this process. Year 1 will practise handwriting every morning for 10 minutes during registration to help them become familiar with the strokes of the letters
In phonics, we will recap the set 2 sounds. The sounds are: ay, ee, igh, ow, oo (poo at the zoo), ar, air, ir, or, oo (look at a book), ou and oy.
We will have a phonics lesson 3 days a week and within this session we will also look at the Year 1 high frequency and common exception words. On a Thursday we will do our Big Write and on a Friday we will have a grammar lesson or an activity linked to a book we are reading in class.
In Autumn, during our grammar lessons we will be learning:
- What is a noun?
- What is a verb?
- What is an adjective?
- When and how to use a question mark
- How to add the prefix un to change the meaning of a word
I think children learn a lot by having stories read to them and I will try and read a story every day. The more children read or/and are read to the greater their vocabulary and imagination becomes. This really helps with their creativity when it comes to their own writing. Now children are becoming more confident with their reading it is important they have the opportunity to choose their own books. The school reading books are brilliant at helping children develop/embed their phonic skills and recognise tricky words but they might not necessarily be about a topic which is interesting for your child. I really want to encourage a love for reading and hopefully by children having more ownership of what they are reading will only promote this love.
Some ideas of authors to look at are:
Roald Dahl
Jacqueline Wilson
David Walliams
J.K Rowling
Julia Donaldson
Anthony Browne
Dav Pilkey
There are links at the bottom of the page to any English support I think could be helpful. If you require any more information/support please do not hesitate to ask a member of the Year One Team.
Maths
In Maths, we will have a particular focus for each week starting from November 5th. Last half term we spent a little longer on place value and addition/subtraction so shape has rolled over into this half term.
Week 1 - 2D Shape - recognise, name and describe common 2D shapes (circle, triangle, square, rectangle, pentagon, hexagon and octagon)
Week 2 - 3D Shape - recognise, name and describe common 3D shapes (sphere, cone, cube, cuboid, square based pyramid, triangular prism and cylinder)
Week 3 - 3D Shape - recognise, name and describe common 3D shapes (sphere, cone, cube, cuboid, square based pyramid, triangular prism and cylinder)
Week 4 - Place Value - Count, read and write numbers to 100 in numerals
Week 5 - Place Value - Identify and represent numbers using objects and pictorial representations including the number line, and use the language of: equal to, more than, less than (fewer), most, least
Week 6 - Number - Count in multiples of 2s, 5s and 10s
Week 7 - Number - Count in multiples of 2s, 5s and 10s
Science
Our main focus in science this half term will be materials. Year 1 will learn to distinguish between an object and the material from which it is made, identify and name a variety of everyday materials, including wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, and rock, describe the simple physical properties of a variety of everyday materials as well as compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of their simple physical properties. We will also be taking part in some science experiments as children begin to understand the importance of a fair test. Some areas which we will look at are asking simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways, observing closely, using simple equipment, using observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions as well as gathering and recording data to help in answering questions.
Computing
In Computing we will continue to learn how to use technology safely and respectfully, keep personal information private; identify where to go for help and support when they have concerns about material on the internet or other online technologies. Year 1 will begin to learn how to retrieve data and use visual media. This will include creating and manipulating digital images. We will be using Purple Mash to help with his objective which the children will remember from Reception.
R.E.
During R.E. in Autumn 1 our theme will be Incarnation. Our key question will be 'Why does Christmas matter to Christians?'. At the end of the unit children will be able to give a clear, simple account of the story of Jesus’ birth and why Jesus is important for Christians. Recognise that stories of Jesus’ life come from the Gospels. Give examples of ways in which Christians use the story of the nativity to guide their beliefs and actions at Christmas. Decide what they personally have to be thankful for at Christmas time.
P.E.
Our P.E. days for Autumn 2 will be Tuesday and Thursday.
Please ensure that children are wearing their School PE kit - plain white t-shirt, black shorts, trainers (which children can fasten/tie themselves), tracksuit bottoms and top. Please can long hair be tied up and earrings either removed or covered with a plaster.
- Autumn 2 - Multi Skills (Tuesday - Outdoor).
- Autumn 2 - Multi Skills (Thursday - Outdoor).
Spanish
Year 1 will be introduced to Spanish this half term on a Tuesday afternoon.
PHSE/British Values
Our RESPECT code, as ever, will underpin all our learning, and the children will be encouraged to continue to add to a RESPECT code display and write a post-it when they see a child portraying aspects of our RESPECT code and help to choose the children who will be selected for our leaf assembly. We will be discussing lots about our locality and discussing what it means to be British, recapping our British values.
Our PHSE focus will be 'keeping safe and managing risk'. Pupils will recognise the difference between 'real' and 'imaginary' dangers. Understand that there are situations when secrets should not be kept. Know to tell a trusted adult if they feel unsafe.
Rainbow Factory
