Brockholes Church Of England Voluntary Controlled Junior And Infant School

Welcome to Year 1

Autumn Term

A huge warm welcome to year 1 and an overview of what we will be up to this Autumn term. We are looking forward to a term full of fun lessons, good quality literacy texts and a focus on phonics for year 1. We have a full team this year all working together to provide an exciting curriculum. The team includes Mrs Heap (Teacher), Mr Barrans (PPA cover) and the following support staff at different times and days throughout the week - Miss Foster, Mrs Barwick, Miss Burton, Mrs Brown and Mrs Brook. We are all excited about the year ahead!

Year 1 is a little different from Reception with an increase in the amount of structured lesson time. Our daily morning sessions include the core subjects of reading, mathematics, phonics (including handwriting, spelling and sentence writing) and literacy when the children are at their freshest. Our afternoons center around our topic areas and include French, P.E, music, R.E, PSHE, science, geography, history, computers, art and design technology. Children will still be able to ‘work with their friends’ in the classroom and we arrange the classroom in mixed ability groups to encourage peer interactions, discussions and helping others learn. We have periods of choosing time with friends throughout the day whereby the children will have access to both the inside and outside provision to continue their learning with friends. Initially, the afternoons include a little more ‘choosing time’ which will gradually be scaled back, including more structured time as the terms progress towards Year 2.

Learning is completed as a whole class at desks in mixed ability groups (except reading which is matched to reading levels) or via a carpet time. We try to make learning fun and practical wherever possible and include as much outdoor learning as we can. Please bring coats everyday just in case we are working outside.

Our Topic 'Toys'

The topic for the first half term is ‘Toys’ where we will be looking at various good quality literacy texts to support our learning. We kick off the term with our story ‘The Lost Property Office’ by Emily Rand. This links to PSHE and exploring emotions, loss and losing a toy. The children will get to know Marmalade, Mrs Heaps favourite childhood toy, a marmoset monkey. Until one day he goes missing from the classroom and is LOST! We will work towards writing a descriptive piece of writing using adjectives to help find him. We will also incorporate some poetry by Roger McGough (The lost – lost property office). Later in the term we will be using ‘The Naughty Bus’ by Jane and Jerry Oke, ‘Paper Dolls’ by Julia Donaldson & Rebecca Cob and finally ‘The Christmas Doll’ by Amy Sparkes. Non-fiction texts looking at the history of toys will also be used during our History lessons this term.

We will be finding out about toys from the past, talking to parents and grandparents about toys so please encourage this at home– we would love some parent/grandparent visits in school to ‘show and tell’ children about their childhood toys. If you or a grandparent would be willing to share stories from your own childhood please let me know as this really brings history to life for the children.

In Science we will be thinking about seasonal changes including weather patterns and changes in day length. We will visit our outdoor learning area each month to observe the seasonal changes we can see, hear and feel. Materials will also be a focus in our science lessons this term, looking at the different types of everyday materials and exploring the materials some of our toys and toys from the past are made of.

Art/Design Technology will include still life drawings of our favourite toys using various materials and textures, puppet making and the use of wheels and axles to make a pull along toy.

Phonics and Reading

Phonics and reading is a huge focus in Year 1. We begin every morning with reading baskets where children read in groups and complete various activities. These groups will be organised to challenge reading. Books are sent home on a Friday and need to be returned by the following Wednesday so that there is time to sort out new ones for the next week. Along with a group reader they may have another book that might be at a slightly different level or a different genre, e.g. non-fiction or poetry. If books are not returned on Wednesday they may not be changed for the following week.

A plea for help - If you feel you could stay for 30 minutes one morning (8:45 – 9:15) to help with reading baskets we would appreciate your help. No experience necessary! Help from parents/grandparents/carers during these morning reading sessions is really beneficial to the children so please let me know if you think you can help out – we need a number of volunteers.

Phonics remains the main focus for children in Year 1 and incorporates spelling, reading, writing, handwriting (focusing on correct letter formation) and simple grammar. Phonics is taught daily for 30 minutes with this interwoven into all subjects throughout the day, encouraging independent writing, spelling and reading wherever possible.

Spelling, grammar and phonics

We will be teaching spelling in class and some words will be sent home to practice on a Friday. Please practice these regularly with you children at home. Grammar will be taught as part of literacy so children will need to recognise words like verb, noun, adjective and be able to identify them. We will be using capital letters, finger spaces and punctuation during our sentence writing.

Year 1 will have PE on Monday and Friday afternoon with the focus for Autumn Term on Gymnastics and Christmas dances. Please come to school wearing PE kit on those days. There may be some lessons taught outside in the playground so please make sure PE kit reflects the outdoor temperature.

Outdoor Learning

Year 1 will still be working with Rosie for outdoor learning once a fortnight. Outdoor learning will start on Tuesday 17^th September. Year 1 need to be dressed in outdoor clothing and please bring in a pair of wellies to wear.

Spelling and Homework

Homework will be put on Google classroom by Friday teatime. The children will have homework books and a spelling book that can be used. Spelling books will also be sent home every Friday for the children to learn and practice at home - please return these by Wednesday for checking in class. Thank you for your support at home in this area - frequent revision of these trickier spellings are really beneficial for the children in Year 1. Homework is voluntary and will be given to support the learning in class. If it becomes a battle between you and your child please leave it, but let us know. There are plenty of things you can do to help your child anyway, e.g. reading and enjoying books together, recognising coins and notes, spotting numbers, letters and words out and about, telling the time, days of the week, months of the year, recognising shapes, and practical skills such as using scissors, tying shoelaces and zipping up coats.