Ashurst Primary School

Year 1 class  

'Excellence Everyday'

'Learn, Live, Laugh and Love Ashurst'

Learn to be inspiring and make a difference to this world, we know how amazing you are,

Live with understanding and compassion for others, knowing we are all different and special in a community where equality stands tall,

Laugh and listen to the enjoyment of learning and excitement of everyone celebrating their achievements,

Love Ashurst, our special school and the hub of supportive staff, parents and children who aim high to be the best they can be.

About the class...

In Year 1 we believe that children learn best when they feel safe and secure, in an environment where their ideas and opinions are valued.

We also believe that enjoying learning and having fun is key to their ability to succeed.

Therefore all of the lessons are interactive, exciting and engaging and involve the children in as many ways as possible.

The children also still have plenty of opportunities to learn through play while accessing our wonderful areas of continuous provision. We have areas such as a reading corner, numeracy area, writing area and role play.

We believe that a great resource can be each other, so discussions and questioning are encouraged in all aspects to allow the children to learn from others to build up their own understanding.

Giving consideration to mental health and well-being is very important in Year 1.  We work together with the children to create a classroom where all  children can  be happy and free from worry and anxieties.  We support this by promoting positive self-talk and  help children to build up their resilience and self-esteem.  We always have the time to support children to deal with any difficulties that occur. This year we have sourced some wonderful new stories that we will be using to explore and support positive  mental health and  well-being. 

All individuals

Each child enters Year 1 at a different stage; some are ready for the National Curriculum, whereas others will require a little support to achieve the Foundation Stage Profile objectives from Reception.

To continue the learning journey we take assessments made in Reception and identify the next steps for each child.

We see every child as an individual, not just a year group. We understand that every child learns in a different way and has different interests and it is our aim to adapt our teaching to suit the children.

We encourage their independence throughout, allowing them to take ownership of their learning and achievements and to understand how to solve problems on their own.

Rules and Routines

 At the beginning of the year, children are encouraged to contribute to our class rules and vision. This runs alongside the schools  policies and procedures and is expected to further improve the learning environment for all and in turn develop strategies for 'Behaviour for Learning'. Conversation and discussion are encouraged in Year 1 and is balanced with dedication to learn and succeed through quiet and independent work.        

Routine

• Doors open 8:45am
• Registration for Year 1 takes place at 8:55 am and the school day ends at 3:15pm 

What do we learn?

We have daily RWI Inc sessins,  Maths Mastery sessions and English/SPAG lessons.  We have exciting books on our class reading spine which give children a breadth and depth of literature. We use the Talk for Writing approach, which starts with oral rehearsal moving into innovated pieces of writing and finally independent pieces of writing.  We have reading lessons to help us work on year group reading objectives. We have daily opportunities to read across the curriculum.  In Maths, we use a mastery approach to enable all children to gain a deep understanding of the unit of work. The activities we complete range from practical to written in order to cater for the different learning needs of the children.  

We have an action packed curriculum with lots of exciting learning.  We work as scientists, historians, artists , musicians and much more! In Year 1 we can be whatever we want to be. 

 September 2024

Important things to remember: -

•  

• • Please provide a healthy snack for your child to eat at playtime.
  • Each child can have their own water bottle , please provide these with their name on.
  • PE for this year is on a MONDAY and TUESDAY, please ensure that your child comes into school wearing their PE Kit on these days.  Children will continue to come into school in PE kits on their days for PE.  On these days children must wear the following PE uniform: Black jogging bottoms or black sports leggings , white PE tops, black hoody tops . Or a Summer PE kit : the usual red shorts and the white PE top .
  • Weekly homework will be set on Friday and is to be handed in on the following Friday. Homework will be set on Seesaw ( log in and password details will be provided) or on paper. Seesaw enables staff to set work, monitor work and provide feedback online.   The homework will be a consolidation of work already done in class. Later in the year English homework will be set on SPAG.com (online), again log in and password details will be sent.  Homework used to support phonics screening will also be sent throughout the year.
  • We will begin to send home reading books out as soon as we have assessed your child’s reading level. Your child will need to return their home reading book/s every Friday, they can then select a new home reading book from the school library.  We encourage the children to read at home every night but at least three times each week. This is part of the homework expectations and we appreciate your support with this. Your child has their own personal reading record for you to record their reading journey. We expect these to be completed every time your child reads their school book. 
  • Topic webs will be uploaded onto this class page in the first week of each half term. Topic webs will inform you of the learning taking place and will provide a list of project homework activities to complete at home.  
  • Children are asked not to bring any other personal items into school; we will provide all necessary stationery.

Year 1 Long Term Plan 2023-2024

Year 1 Topic Webs

Learning 2023-2024

English

In Autumn 1 we look at 'The Three Billy Goats Gruff'. We use Talk4Writing to imitate, innovate and invent our stories. The children loved taking part in role play. 

Visitors and Trips

Design and Technology

In DT this half term, the children will be designing, making and evaluating a fruit salad. As part of their research, children tasted and rated different fruit. 

Maths

In Maths we have been looking at place value within 10. The children love using concrete resources to support their learning of new concepts. 

Visiting the library to choose our tray books. 

PE

History

English

Talk for writing - The Three Billy Goats Gruff

In Autumn term we look at place value and addition/subtraction within 10. We also look at 2D and 3D shapes. Here we are building towers with 3D shapes to explore their properties.

Science

In Science we have been learning all about materials. The children have enjoyed exploring the properties of different materials, as well as testing which materials float and sink.

Maths

In Maths this term we have been learning about teen numbers. We grouped ten in order to identify the ones. We used lots of concrete resources to aid our knowledge and understanding of the number composition.

English

In Spring 1 our talk for writing model text was Little Red Riding Hood. We developed our knowledge of setting descriptions to produce our own stories. As part of our non-fiction we wrote letters. The hot task was to write a letter as the Big Bad Wolf to the villagers convincing them that the wolf was sorry and he didn't mean to cause Granny or Little Red Riding Hood any harm. 

Art

In Art this term we looked at the artwork of Georgia O'Keefe. We took inspiration from her floral pieces to then create our own painting. We had so much fun analysing her techniques and finessing our own artistic skills. 

Geography

The enquiry question for our Geography topic this term was 'What makes the UK?'. This included naming the countries that make the United Kingdom, as well as their capital cities. The children learnt all about the features of urban, rural and coastal areas. 

Science

In science our focus has been materials. We have loved learning and investigating the properties of different materials, particularly our 'astronappy' investigation whereby we had to find the most absorbent material. 

Coronation Celebrations

English

In Summer 1 our Talk for Writing text was The Disgusting Sandwich. We loved reading all of the wonderful adjectives to describe the sandwich and enjoyed being creative and writing our own version of the Disgusting Sandwich. We are looking forward to our non-fiction topic of instruction writing over the coming weeks.

Maths

In Maths, we have been looking at place value within 50. We have been using different representations to identify the number of tens and ones. We used stem sentences such as, 'There are ___ tens and ___ ones. The number is___'. 

Geography

 In Geography our enquiry question has been 'What makes our world?'. We can name the seven continents and know what the equator is. We have also compared cities within Europe with those in other continents, such as the Amazon Rainforest and the Lake District. 

Science

In Science we have been focusing on Animals this term. We can sort animals based on the foods they eat (herbivore, carnivore and omnivore). We are also able to sort animals into groups based on their features (fish, bird, mammal, amphibians and reptiles). 

Design and Technology

In Summer 1 our design and technology focus has been moving picture books. We have enjoyed looking at the different mechanisms, such as levers and sliders. We had a go at making some of our own and are looking forward to applying our new skills to create our own moving picture book version of The Disgusting Sandwich.

Year 1 Trip to Imagine That