Hello and welcome to Year 1.

Your child has now entered an important stage of their primary school experience as they enter their first year of KS1.

In Year 1 we strive to make all children feel confident, independent and safe. 

Autumn Term

This term, we will embark on an engaging exploration of Naughty Bus, delving into its rich language and intricate sequence of events to prepare for our independent writing assignments. To further enhance our understanding of both Naughty Bus and the vibrant city of London, we will also read The Last Stop on Market Street. While the primary focus of our literacy activities will be on Naughty Bus, we will draw connections between the texts to deepen our overall comprehension. This promises to be a term filled with discovery, creativity, and meaningful storytelling.

In Maths, we will be looking at Place Value within 10; addition and subtraction; grouping and geometry.

In Year 1 Science, we will explore the fascinating topic of the human body. Students will learn to identify and name various body parts while engaging in hands-on activities that stimulate our senses. This interactive approach will allow us to discover how our bodies function and how we experience the world around us.

Our foundation subjects for this term will look at human and physical geography, design and technology, computing and music.

As always, it is important to keep our bodies just as active as our minds and so for PE we will be focusing on developing our basic skills; sending and receiving; dance and gymnastics. 

Spring Term

This spring term, our literacy lessons were centred around the book Somebody Swallowed Stanley, which we linked closely to our science topic on materials and caring for our planet. Inspired by the story, we explored the impact of sea pollution and used our knowledge of animals to write detailed fact files about ocean creatures and the threats they face. We also thought carefully about how we could make a difference, setting personal targets such as using reusable shopping bags and turning off taps while brushing our teeth, as part of our focus on the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ model.

In maths, we developed our understanding of place value up to 50, practised number bonds to 20, and explored capacity, volume, and measurement through practical activities.

In computing, we began exploring the world of programming by learning how to use Bee-Bots. We had lots of fun programming them to follow specific routes, developing our understanding of sequencing, directions, and problem-solving as we worked together to make the Bee-Bots move accurately around different paths.

One of the highlights of the term in Design and Technology was creating our own monster models using recycled materials. We carefully planned, constructed, and evaluated our designs, showcasing both our creativity and our understanding of sustainable practices.

In PE, we had great fun taking part in team games that helped us build our agility, fitness, and cooperation skills.

Summer Term

Our first book of the term is The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which will help us secure our understanding of the days of the week and practise the correct spelling of each day. We will follow the caterpillar’s journey through a week, documenting the different foods he eats each day. Along the way, we’ll add our own imaginative adjectives to describe these foods, enhancing both our writing and vocabulary.

In addition to The Very Hungry Caterpillar, we will dive into Eddie’s Garden to explore how things grow. This book ties into our cross-curricular learning in Forest School and Science, where we will be investigating plants, flowers, and trees. We will also be heading out on a trip to put our plant knowledge to the test in a real-world setting. During these sessions, we’ll learn about the essential factors that help plants grow and discover the different types of plants we can find in our local environment.

In Maths, we are starting an exciting new unit on multiplication and division, as well as exploring fractions and time. These important topics will build our number skills and help us understand how to solve problems involving sharing, grouping, and measuring time.

Our Computing lessons will continue with our second unit on programming. We will explore Scratch Jr and learn how to create our own interactive stories and games, understanding the basics of algorithms and how to use them to control the movement and actions in our programs.

• Year 1 Termly Newsletters