Orange - Year 1
Spring 1 Newsletter
English and Maths
Our focus quality text will be Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott. We will be continuing to develop and use phonics when reading and writing, reading common exception words, and listen to, read, discuss and enjoy a wide range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. We will write full sentences and continue to use a range of punctuation accurately, as well as use conjunctions and adjectives to describe. We will also have a strong focus on handwriting.
In maths, we will have a focus on place value and addition and subtraction to 20, using a range of mental and written strategies, and a range of resources.
Wider Curriculum
Computing - Lego builders/Maze explorers
DT - Stable Structures
Geography - The Four Seasons
Music - Colonel Hathi's march
PE - Outdoor games (Mondays), indoor games (Wednesdays)
PSHE - Dreams and goals
RE - Who is Jewish and what do they believe?
Science - Polar Places
Additional Information
Children will be reading every day, so please ensure book bags are in school every day. All books are changed on a Friday. It is expected that children read their book at least four times a week.
PE is on Monday and Wednesday. Please send your child to school wearing their kit on these days (the kit consists of black shorts, white T-shirt and trainers).
Homework will be sent home on a Monday to be completed by the following Monday. Homework will consist of spellings to learn and 30 minutes a week on Numbots.
Dates for Your Diary
Monday 6th January: Children return to school.
Friday 9th January: Panto
Tuesday 20th January: Panto
Thursday 5th February: NSPCC number day
Friday 6th February: Y1 trip to Bramall Hall
Friday 13th February: Parent's morning
Friday 13th February: Finish for half-term
History: Amazing Homes of the Past
This term, our Year 1 class has been exploring homes from the past. We have travelled through time to learn about medieval, Tudor, Georgian and Victorian homes, discovering how people lived long ago and how homes have changed over time.
A special focus has been on the Victorian period, where the children learnt about Queen Victoria and the inventor Thomas Edison. We explored a range of Victorian objects and talked about how new inventions began to change everyday life.
The children also enjoyed comparing Victorian homes with modern homes, thinking about differences in rooms, lighting, furniture and household objects. This topic has helped them develop their historical understanding while making links to their own lives today.
Autumn 2 Newsletter
English and Maths
Our focus quality text will be The Jolly Postman by Janet and Alan Ahlberg. We will be continuing to develop and use phonics when reading and writing, reading common exception words, and listen to, read, discuss and enjoy a wide range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. We will write full sentences and continue to use a range of punctuation accurately, as well as use conjunctions and adjectives to describe. We will also have a strong focus on handwriting.
In maths, we will have a focus on addition and subtraction, using a range of mental and written strategies, and a range of resources. We will also begin to look at geometry with a focus on shape.
Additional Information
Children will be reading every day so please ensure book bags are in school every day. All books are changed on a Friday. It is expected that children read their book at least four times over a week.
PE is on Monday and Wednesday. Please send your child in wearing their kit on these days (kit consists of black shorts, white T-shirt and trainers).
Homework will be sent home on a Monday to be completed by the following Monday. Homework will consist of spellings to learn and Numbots 30 minutes a week.
Wider Curriculum
Art - 3D earth art
Computing - Grouping/sorting, pictograms
History - Homes in the past (Victorians)
Music - BBC Ten Pieces Mars (Holst)
PE - Ball skills (Mon) Gymnastics (Weds)
RE - What does it mean to belong to a faith community?
Science - Celebrations and Everyday materials
PSHE - Celebrating difference
Dates for your diary
3 December -Nativity Performance 9:30 & 5pm
16th December - Christmas crafts 9-10 -parents welcome
Forest School
These are the skills that we explored in forest school in Autumn 1:
- Children explored the skills of den and shelter building.
- They were introduced to the safe use of simple tools for whittling.
- They were taught a range of simple knots and how to use them for different purposes.
- They explored creativity through natural artwork inspired by Andy Goldsworthy.
- They used imagination and natural resources to design and build their own fairy gardens.
- They made rubbings of leaves using pencils and paper, discovering the patterns and textures found in nature.
- And finally, they learnt how to create and maintain a small campfire in a safe and controlled way.
If you would like to see additional photos, please see our Orange Class photo gallery.
Autumn 1 Newsletter
English and Maths
Our first quality text this half-term will be Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems. We will be starting to use phonics when reading and writing, reading common exception words, and listen to, read, discuss and enjoy a wide range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. We will write full sentences and begin to use a range of punctuation accurately, as well as use conjunctions and adjectives to describe. We will also have a strong focus on handwriting and presentation.
In maths, we will be recapping place values and sorting and grouping objects. We will be comparing numbers, and using less than and greater than. Later in the half term, we will begin using addition and subtraction within 10.
Additional Information
Children will be reading every day so please ensure book bags are in school every day. All books are changed on a Friday. It is expected that children read their book at least four times over a week.
PE is on Wednesday this half term and on Monday and Wednesday in Autumn 2. Please send your child in wearing their kit on this day (kit consists of black shorts, white T-shirt and trainers). On Mondays this half term the children will be attending forest school. Please send your children to school in play wear (clothes you do not mind getting muddy!) with a bag for life containing waterproof trousers, waterproof jacket and wellies. We will help the children get changed into their forest school things for each session.
Homework will be sent home on a Monday to be completed by Friday. Homework will consist of spellings to learn and their daily reading.
Wider Curriculum
Computing - online safety
D&T - fruit kebabs
Geography - our local area, the UK and the world
Music - Sing-up Menu Song
PE - Mr Stevenson (PE coaches)
RE - Who is a Christian and what do they believe?
Science - Who am I?
Dates for your diary
2nd September - Meet the Teacher (3:30pm)
TBC - Parent open morning