Welcome to Year 1’s Class Page

Find information on this page about this term’s subject content and some important information.

We are up and running for a busy term! The children will be exploring lots of parts of the curriculum over the next few weeks, so keep reading if you would like more information. Remember if you have any questions, then please come in and see Mrs Shovlin and Mrs Sparke. Also, keep an eye out for announcements and information on our Class Dojo page.

Literacy

The children in Year 1 will take part in a daily Read, Write Inc. phonics lesson, where they will continue to build their knowledge of sounds and digraphs to support both reading and spelling. After phonics, we will move into our Literacy Counts lessons, which are text-focused.

• To begin the Autumn Term, we will be enjoying ‘Star in the Jar’ by Sam Hay. This wonderful story will help us explore narrative writing, where the children will develop their sentence writing skills and imagination as they retell and create their own versions of the story.
• Later in the term, our focus text will be ‘Juniper Jupiter’, a superhero tale that will introduce children to new genres of writing. As part of this unit, the children will be practising letter writing, learning how to write with an audience and purpose in mind.

Weekly spellings will continue to be set through our school’s Spelling Shed scheme, with lists sent home to practise each week.

 

 Maths

We use the White Rose Maths initiative at BPS, which supports children in developing fluency and confidence across all areas of the curriculum. The scheme of learning is carefully structured into three terms (autumn, spring and summer), with each term broken down into focused blocks of learning.

This term, Year 1 will begin by exploring Place Value within 10. The children will learn how to count, read, and write numbers up to 10, as well as how to compare and order them. This foundation will help them to understand the value of each digit and prepare them for more complex calculations.

As we move further into the term, the children will build on this knowledge with Addition and Subtraction within 10. They will practise using practical equipment, number lines, and pictorial methods to solve problems, while developing their recall of key number facts.

Alongside this, we are excited to continue with our Mastering Number programme, supported by the NCETM (National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics). This daily number fluency practice builds on the children’s learning from EYFS and will help them to develop a secure and confident understanding of numbers as they progress through Key Stage 1 and beyond.

Foundation subjects/Afternoon work

The children will be starting their CUSP journey as they transition into Year 1 and mainstream school. You can find more information about our CUSP curriculum and what this will look like for your child moving forward into Year 1 and beyond on our school website: BPS Curriculum Information. Our curriculum overview can also be found at the bottom of this page.

This term, our afternoon learning will include a variety of exciting subjects:

• Art and Design (Kapow) – We will be starting with Making Our Mark. The children will experiment with lines, shapes and patterns to express themselves creatively and build confidence in their artistic skills.
• Science (CUSP) – Our science focus will be Daily Weather, where the children will observe and record changes over time. We will also look at Seasonal Changes and begin to explore Plants.
• History (CUSP) – In history, we will be exploring our local area and considering changes within living memory. This will give the children the chance to think about how their surroundings and everyday life have developed over time.
• Geography (CUSP) – The children will begin their journey as geographers, learning how to observe and describe their immediate environment.

Alongside these, we will continue to cover the wider range of Kapow foundation subjects across the year, helping the children to build a broad and balanced understanding of the world around them.

P.E.

During this term, the children will have PE on Friday. Children can keep their P.E. bag in school all half-term. We will send the kit home to be washed at the end of each half-term. We should remind everybody; P.E. kit includes their house colour plain T-shirts (not the polo shirt they are wearing all day), black shorts and either trainers or plimsolls. Black jogging bottoms are fine too, as the weather gets colder. No jewellery should be worn for safety reasons. Medical tape will be used to cover any piercings that cannot be taken out by the child independently.

Homework

Homework consists of reading every night for up to ten minutes. Please use the reading record to record when your child has read, and make comments. 

Reading Information

Children will be reading Read Write Inc. books as their class/home reading book. This book will be sent home at a level that has been checked under an assessment by the class teacher. The children who make the most progress through their reading levels and who not only develop fluency and confidence but also build comprehension skills ready for the challenge of Year 2, are the children who read regularly at home. I cannot reiterate the importance of reading at home with your child. Thank you for your support with this.

Class Dojo:

Our Class Dojo is our main channel of communication.  We will put day to day information on there, as well as some pictures of what the children have been up to in school.  Please do not hesitate to message us via Dojo if you need anything. If it is urgent or you need a quick response, please contact school directly.

 

Mrs Shovlin and Mrs Sparke

 

Hello to all Year 1 parents, grandparents and all those who read with a child at home.

Over the past few weeks, the children have been getting to grips with a new way of reading in our shared/1:1 reading time. To match up with our current phonics scheme, our new reading scheme gives your child a bespoke levelled reading book which has been given to your child based on a 1:1 assessment with myself. They move through the colour they have been given and with practice and increasing phonic knowledge, they move on to further colours. I hope the children enjoy showing you our new reading books. It is recommended that all children read with an adult at home, at least three times a week. It is suggested that the children read the book a minimum of four times with an adult before moving on to a new text.

Reading with your child

The books have different sections that you work through to help build fluency and early comprehension. Children should now be thinking more carefully about what they have read in preparation for reading comprehension weekly activities in Year 2.

Glossary of terms

A list of Read, Write Inc. terms to help adults and children understand what the book is asking them to do.

Speed Sounds

Practise reading the speed sounds across the lines and in and out of order.

 

Green Words

Words are made up of the graphemes (sounds) listed in the speed sounds and that come up in the story.

Red words

Common words with graphemes are not listed in the speed sound box.

Vocabulary check

After reading the introduction and discussing this with your child, discuss the vocabulary to clarify any misunderstandings in meanings.

Read the story

Read the story on more than one occasion with your child over several days. This will help to build comprehension of the story. It will also help your child gain confidence as they become fluent and familiar with the text.

Questions to talk about

Answer the questions to ‘read and answer’.

Speed words

Practise reading the speed words in and out of order