Dear Parents/Carers,
Happy New Year!
Welcome back to year 1 and the start of our Spring term!
OUR CAPITAL CITY
Our topic for the first half term is called “Our Capital City” where we will be learning about London. In History the children will be
learning about some famous London landmarks, both modern and historic, as well as learning about Queen Elizabeth II and The
Royal Family. Whilst in Geography we will be comparing life in the city to rural/costal locations. In Computing we will be looking
at digital print and creating our own London scenes on the laptops. In Art we will be learning about famous local sculptor Henry
Moore, then planning and sculpting our own unique creations!
This half term Mrs Price and Mrs Patten will continue to take the children on a Tuesday morning, where they will be doing RE and
PSHE.
After half term our topic will be “Skip Into Spring” where we will be looking at the life cycle of plants, minibeasts and other
animals. We will be writing instructions on how to grow a plant and care for it and using this to transform our courtyard. We will
study and create observations sketching of the plants we grow.
ENGLISH
In English this term we will be building on the fantastic progress the children have made in learning to write in full sentences, using
capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. This is alongside a further emphasis on writing in a grammatically correct form and
utilising their enhanced phonic knowledge.
As in the previous term, we are continuing to praise the children for their use of logical phonetic spelling appropriate to their stage
of learning. This means that children will become increasingly aware of the correct spellings for words, in line with their progressing
phonic knowledge. We thank you in advance for your support with this.
“High Frequency Words” (as seen in the front of your child’s reading record) will continue to be corrected as these often cannot be
spelt phonetically. It is the expectation that the children will be able to read and spell these words by heart by the end of Year 1.
Additionally, we will be beginning to use these writing skills to write letters, non-fiction reports, instructions and story writing.
Over this term we will be doing handwriting practise four times a week to continue to improve of letter formation and presentation
skills. Please encourage your child to form their letters correctly it is very easy to get into bad habits!
READING
We have just begun to use our new and improved reading system which sees the children choosing books for themselves, nurturing
their love of reading for pleasure. Each week the children will read in groups, both with the TA and then with the Teacher the
following day. For the rest of the week they will take part in reading based activities, you may hear this referred to as ‘ERIC Time’
(Everyone Reading In Class.) One of these activities will be for the children to independently choose two reading scheme books,
from what is now called the “Rainbow Library” and one library book to take home each week, an activity the children have shown a
great deal of enthusiasm for, taking pride over their choices. The reading scheme books the children take home are chosen for their
appropriate level. The children should be able to read around 95% of these books with complete fluency and are there for practise
and consolidation. Please feel free to let your children read these as many times as they like and to anyone at home they choose! As
well as to you this could be a sibling, a teddy bear or even the goldfish! All reading is beneficial. Children will also now be logging
their new reading books in their Reading Diaries themselves, please continue to note down the reading you have done at home and
any comments you have. Thank you for your continued support with reading at home, it really does make a big difference.
In Summary your child will have two reading scheme books and one library book each week. There will be comments about another
book, but this is read as a group and kept at school. Remember that the books that come home are chosen by your child and each
shelf with have a breadth of challenge within it.
PHONICS
The children have been working extremely hard in their phonics groups over the last half term and we have seen a notable impact in
their reading and writing as a result. Next week the groups will move around and your child may have a different teacher for
phonics sessions. This fluidity of groups means that children can always be in a group appropriate to them and are able to learn
from a range of specialist staff who all have a wealth of phonic knowledge and experience.
MATHS
In Maths we will continue to work on number recognition and formation to 100. Much like letter formation and handwriting,
correct number formation is an ongoing focus. If you are writing numbers at home, please do use the “number ditties” that were
sent home in home learning books to help reinforce this.
Maths lessons will continue to consolidate understanding of the basic principles of addition and subtraction, moving on to mental
arithmetic and consolidating the all-important number bonds. By the end of year 1 we would expect children to recall number bonds
to 10 and to 20 quickly and by heart. Number bonds are pairs of numbers that add together to make a common total, (1+9=10,
2+8=10, 3+7=10 etc.) This can be practised in a fun and easy way, the more often the better!
We will also be learning to estimate, tell the time, use and count money and begin basic multiplication.
P.E. SESSIONS
Both classes will have PE every week either on a Wednesday or a Friday. Children need to have both indoor and outdoor kits at
school at all times. PE kit will be sent home for washing at the end of every half term. Children will need suitable outdoor clothing
– sweatshirt/zip-up top, jogging bottoms and trainers. For indoor PE, children will need white t-shirts and blue shorts. Once in the
hall, shoes and socks are removed, but for safety, these are worn to walk from the classroom to the hall and back. Please ensure all
items of your child’s P.E kit are named
BOOKBAGS
Everyday children must bring in a named book bag, these are available from the school office. Rucksacks and other bags are not
appropriate as they will not fit into their drawers because of this we can also not accommodate any key rings or toys that have been
attached to the book bag. Thank you for your understanding.
Although it is nice to bring your own possessions into school, we encourage chidlren not to bring in toys or other items to be used
at break-time as they can easily be broken or lost and can lead to upset.
Please also ensure that your child comes to school with their reading books and diary every day as this will be needed for group
reading sessions and in order to change books.
DRINKS AND SNACKS
Please ensure your child has a named refillable water bottle in school every day. Please ensure that it is water that is in the bottle,
sugary drinks are not permitted. These are kept in the classroom and are accessible throughout the day. Children will still receive a
daily piece of fruit. Milk cartons are also optional – please ask at the School Office for details.
MORNINGS AND HOME TIME
Please may we remind you that in order to encourage the children’s independence we ask that you say goodbye to your child outside
and send them into the classroom on their own. This helps to promote their independence and means that children who have not
been dropped off by their parents do not get upset. The class teacher will always be at the door for any concerns for the day ahead
however if you wish to talk in more detail an after school appointment would need to be arranged. It is important that you inform
us if somebody else will be collecting your child or they will be attending Funzone this can be done verbally on the door but is more
convenient in writing. For the safety of your children we are unable to let them go with somebody else if we have not been
informed. Should plans change throughout the school day, please telephone the school office.
Thank you for your continued support. We hope you find this information useful, if there is anything else you wish to know or to
clarify please feel free to ask. We are looking forward to another term with you and your fantastic children!
Miss Sacco and Miss Stott