Year 1
| Dickens Boulevard | Ruskin Drive |
| Badger Class | Turtle Class |
|
Mrs Mead Mrs Snead Mrs Bailey
|
Mrs Field Miss Brown |
| Hedgehog Class | |
|
Miss Di Rosa Mrs Morton |
Welcome
Hedgehog Class
Hello, I am Miss Di Rosa and I am the teacher in Hedgehog Class. We also have the wonderful Mrs Morton supporting us with our learning.
We are so lucky to have an amazing classroom with an outdoor area attached so we can do our learning both inside and out. We have different areas in the classroom to help support the way that you learn best. We have a construction area, arts and crafts area, a reading area, a maths area and a role play area. We learn about many different topics in Hedgehog class, including; English, maths, science, geography, history, phonics, computing, all about life, music, art, design and technology and weekly RHE lessons.
We have an active learning approach enabling us to cater for every child’s need and learning style within the classroom. We encourage children to take on their own learning approach to support their own understanding and this is done in a safe and secure environment.
In Hedgehogs we believe that every child is unique and strive to support them in their growth and development as well as, getting to know them on a personal level to be able to support their talents and interests in learning.
Turtle Class
Hello, I am Mrs Field and I am the teacher for the terrific Turtles. We also have Miss Brown in our classroom supporting us with all our learning.
We have an amazing classroom that leads straight out onto our spacious playground, with views of the fields beyond. We like to get outside as much as possible to use our fabulous environment and really make the most of every active learning opportunity, be it role play, gross and fine motor activities or bug hunting and visiting our veggie patch.
We love reading. We have a reading session every day and enjoy taking any opportunity to snuggle up in our book corner with one of our library books or listen to the class shared book. We are amazing at reading real and alien words in our daily phonics sessions and practising our handwriting.
Our days consist of many exciting and interesting lessons with our mornings mainly focussing on English and Maths. In the afternoons we explore lots of different subjects including P.E., Science, Geography, History, Computing, All about life, Music, Art and Design and Technology. We also have a weekly PSHE/RHE lesson in which we explore various topics in a safe space which is free from judgement and encourages children to consider information and develop skills for life in a secure environment.
In Turtles class we truly believe that every child is unique. We strive to nurture their talents and support them in their interests; enabling them to thrive in our environment.
Badger Class
Hello, We are Mrs Mead and Mrs Snead and we are the teachers in Badgers Class.
We have a beautiful, calming classroom which has access to a lovely outside area which we use for role play, gross motor activities, construction and many more fabulous active learning activities. In Badgers class, we are passionate about reading and we have an exciting book corner filled with books, a book voting station and we have reading sessions along with a class shared story daily.
Our days consist of many different lessons including English, maths, phonics, handwriting, PE, science, geography, history, computing, all about life and music. We also have a weekly PSHE/RHE lesson in which we explore various topics in a safe space which is free from judgement and encourages children to consider information and develop skills for life in a secure environment.
In Badgers class, we believe that every child is unique and we love getting to know every individual child and encourage them to share their interests with the class.
Daily Routine
The school day begins at 8.45am and ends at 3.20pm.
Year 1 children enter the classroom via their exterior classroom doors, which are open until 8.55am.
When children are settled in the classroom they will begin their Good Morning Challenge, in Year 1 this is typically reading, fine motor, phonics or a spelling activity.
Morning break is at 10:20am which followed by snack time in the classroom. Children in Year 1 are entitled to a free piece of fruit at snack time daily. Milk is also available to drink during snack time if paid for by parents or carers. Please contact the office for more information on this.
Lunch in Year 1 begins at 12noon and ends at 1.15pm. Year 1 classes are assigned a midday supervisor who will take pupils to lunch, supervise them in the hall and then in the playground.
At 3:20pm Year 1 children will leave via their exterior classroom doors and are dismissed at the door by the class teacher or LSA.
If your child is being collected by someone other than their parents then we ask you to complete a safeguarding collection form. We have two forms available; a one off collection form and long term collection form which is valid for the school year.
Collecting Children from School – Safeguarding slips for One off collection / Regular collection
Curriculum
Click on the link below for the Year 1 curriculum map.
Phonics, Spelling and Handwriting
In Year 1 children take part in daily teaching of ‘Twinkl Phonics’. During these sessions children learn the relationship between letters and sounds and build secure foundations for successful reading, writing and spelling. We encourage children to use pure sounds when segmenting and blending words which helps to improve their phonics. In addition to this, we use sound buttons and robot arms to support the segmenting and blending of words.
The Year 1 Phonics Screening Check is statutory test for children which will take place in June. This is a way for teachers to ensure that children are making sufficient progress with their phonics skills to read words. More information regarding this check is in the Parents Phonics and Learning Log presentation below.
In Year 1 children will also be learning to read and write the Year 1 Common Exception words through the use of echo spelling, games and home learning activities. The Spelling words for this year group can be found here.
To learn more about how you can support your child with handwriting. You can learn more about the phonics teaching by clicking on this link and scrolling down to handwriting.
Parents Phonics and Learning Log Presentation November 2022
PE days and routines
Year 1 PE days are a Monday and Thursday.
Children should bring their PE kit in at the beginning of each half term and leave this at school. At the end of each half term this will be returned home.
PE will be both indoor and outdoor and so children need to have the following in their kit bag:
- White round neck T-shirt
- Maroon shorts
- Maroon jogging bottoms
- Black hooded sweatshirt
- Black plimsolls/trainers
All long hair should be tied back for PE lessons and earrings removed.
As the weather gets colder in the Autumn and Winter months, please ensure your child has warm clothing to wear outside for PE lessons. If the weather is particularly cold we do allow children to wear their coats and hats during PE lessons.
Homework
In Year 1, we provide children with logins to Oxford Reading Buddy, Numbots, Purple Mash and Espresso, these are online programs that can support your child’s learning and can be accessed at home when children choose to. There is an expectation that children are reading to an adult at home regularly, please ensure you sign your child’s reading record so we know when they can change their book.
In Spring term, home learning is set through our learning logs. A new piece of home learning is sent home on a Friday and expected back in school by Wednesday. More information about this will be sent out at the beginning of Spring term.
Reading and Library Books
In Year 1, we have daily reading sessions in which children can access the wide selection of fiction and non-fiction books in our book corners and read these alone or with a partner. All children will read with an adult at school at least once a week.
Each week, your child will be come home with two books. One book will be based on your child’s phonic phase. This has a white sticker with the phonic level on. This book will be changed once a week.
The other book will be a colour banded book. These books take the ‘real book’ approach and your child might need to use more strategies other than just phonic decoding (i.e. using the pictures, repeated phrases). This book can be changed more frequently once they have read it at home to an adult a few times. Please write in their reading records so that we can see that they have read it with you.
Children also have access to Oxford Reading Buddy which has a great selection of books available online for children to access at home. Login details for this can be found inside your child’s reading record and a short video on how to use it can be found here.
When reading with your child, you may find it helpful to ask questions to support their comprehension. To view these questions please click here.
10 Things to do before you are 6
There will be times throughout the year for you to share your journey with your class teacher:
| Smile at a new person in school | Play conkers | Dance in the rain | Tidy up without being asked | Geo-cache around Fairfield |
| Learn to set the table | Walk home a different way from school | Enjoy learning about a new festival | Learn a new playground game | Vote for something important to you |
