Year 1

Meet the team

Miss E Davenport, Miss R Oliphant, Mrs L Mawson, Mrs D Dean, Mrs A Cole

Our Curriculum

Me, Myself and I

To start our Year 1 learning journey, we will be learning all about ourselves. We think about how we have changed since we were a baby and how things have changed since we were in Reception. We will also look at what it was like to be a child when our grandparents were young. Through Geography exploration we learn more about our school grounds and the local area. In art we learn about Andy Goldworthy and his use of natural resources to create art.

Transport

In spring 1 we will start our transport topic by looking at how people used to travel in the past. We will look at various vehicles from the past to the present and compare them. As part of this topic, we will be looking at two inspirational women, Amelia Earhart and Mae Jemison.

Weather

In Spring 2, we will look at the four seasons and the weather in the U.K. We will monitor the weather daily and record the changes. We will learn about the equator and be able to identify whether a country is hot or cold by how close to the equator it is. We will also identify the seven continents and five oceans that make up our Earth. In art we will learn about the famous artist Kandinsky and the use of colour in his paintings.

Temple Newsam

In Summer 1 we will take a huge step back into the past and learn all about Temple Newsam House. We will look at what it was like to be a child who lived there. We will also compare the roles of the owners and their servants. In Art we will look at weaving artists Sarah Cooke and Anna Cross.

Paddington

Our Summer 2 topic starts by learning the names of the four countries and their capital cities that make up the U.K. We will then find these places by exploring maps of the U.K. Our focus will then be on the City of London and its famous landmarks. We will do this through the stories of Paddington Bear and his adventures. Our DT will also be linked to this as we use various materials to create the famous London Skyline.

Maths

In Year 1, we will initially learn numbers to 10, then 20 and by the end year even 100! Place value is at the core of our maths teaching and a main focus in Year 1. We encourage number fluency and mastery of number by focusing on more and less, counting on, ordering numbers and sorting. In Year 1, we also cover addition and

subtraction through the use of part whole models, number lines and practical resources. Our curriculum also involves measuring mass and volume, height and length, sharing and sorting objects into groups, fractions, money and time.

Writing

In year 1, we explore a range of texts, from fiction to non-fiction, and use them to model our own writing. This can be simple sentences, captions or even our own books! We focus on encouraging children to hear the initial sounds of words, then to use their phonics skills to segment words and write them. We practice letter formation daily and promote the use of capital letters, full stops and finger spaces. We also like to make our writing as exciting as possible with the use of adjectives!

Reading

Our children learn to read through a scheme called Read Write Inc. This involves recognising single letter sounds as well as ‘special friends’ (two or three letters which make one sound!) Our handy assistant Fred the Frog teaches us ‘Fred talk,’ meaning we say the special friends first, then we blend all the sounds together and read the word. We review different sounds in each lesson to ensure children's learning is fully embedded. We even try to trick them with a few alien words to see if they can read them!

Science

As scientists we start Year 1 by looking at our senses. We will find out what each of our senses is called and what is used for. We will then look at seasonal changes and what this looks like in our local environment. When we study animals, we will learn about the different animal classifications and be able to categorise them by their features. In our study of plants, we will name their different parts and learn how to take care of them. The last topic of Year 1 will be on Materials. We will compare and sort materials by their properties. Then we will use our knowledge of materials to create a waterproof helmet. A fair test will then be conducted to see whether we have achieved our goal.

In year one, children learn about the religious of Christianity and Islam. We learn stories from The Bible and the Quran, look at the Holy Books from each religion and learn about the key features of Churches and Mosques. In year one, we also learn about important religious festivals for Muslims and Christians, such as Eid and Christmas, and discuss what festivals the children celebrate. We focus on the word ‘thankful’ and ask what Muslims and Christians are saying thank you for during their religious celebrations, as well as who they are saying it to.