Year 1

Autumn 2024

Wow, what a start to Year 1 we have had. I can't believe how well the children have come back in. They are so eager to learn and it has been lovely to hear all about what they have been doing over the holidays. 

We have a new 'Work to Bee Proud of' display in our cloakroom, and even though we are only a few days in we already have pieces of work the children have said they are proud of being put up.  The children have also already shown lots of love for our 'Explorer' role play. It's been lovely to hear about the places they are visiting in their jeep.

Our maths learning will focus on place value of numbers to 20, including lots of ordering, comparing and counting activities. We will move on to addition and subtraction and some shape work later in the term.

Our English will include using stories with repetition, such as 'Walking through the Jungle' and 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt', as stimuli for developing our descriptive language and practicing our sentence writing. We will also be exploring some acrostic poetry and non-fiction writing. In our reading area we will have resources such as story spoons and puppets so the children can retell the stories to their friends.    

Our science this term begins with Seasonal Changes. We will be observing changes as we head through Autumn, including changes in plant and animal life and the difference in daylight hours and weather patterns. 

After half term, our unit will be Animals. We will be learning about different animal groups and similarities and differences between them. We will be sorting animals in different ways such as their features and what they eat.  

Our RE will investigate the question, Who is a Christian and what do they believe? After half term we are learning about celebrating special and sacred times, focusing on Hanukah and Christmas. In PSHE, we will be learning about Being Healthy and Difference and Diversity. We will also take daily about hoe we feel and how we can deal with different feelings. The children are also encouraged to show us how they feel using our interactive 'Feelings check in' display.

In addition to all of that, we will of course be having fun with music, PE, computing, and art, and learning a variety of different skills and information along the way! A full breakdown of our learning this term can be found here.

Summer 2023

This term, our topic is 'We're All Going On a Summer Holiday'! We will be going on a trip around the UK, learning about the four UK countries and the surrounding seas. We will be developing our knowledge of physical and human geographical features and going on a local walk to spot them in Dronfield! 

Our maths will cover place value of numbers up to 100 with lots of practice counting forwards and backwards from different numbers. We will be learning about practical multiplication as "groups of" and division as sharing and also learning simple fractions. Later in the summer, we will be learning about time and money.

In our English this term we are looking at telling our own stories with a beginning, middle and end. We will be writing our own seaside list poem to link with our topic work and writing instructions about our own morning routines. Later in the term, we will be writing reports and stories with a bad character in them. We will finish the summer term writing free verse poems. We now have our Tonie box in class that the children can you to listen to their favourite stories in our reading area.

Our first science unit this term is about humans - we will be learning to name external parts of the body and exploring the senses and how they help us make sense of the world around us. After half term, our science will be about plants. We will be learning about the different parts of plants, and naming common plants and trees. We will also be growing our own plants. Let's hope for lots of summer sunshine to help them grow! A full outline of the learning this term can be found here. 

To kickstart the term, we took a trip to the Tropical Butterfly House and encountered lots of creepy crawlies and furry and feathered friends! We met a skink, a hissing cockroach, a snake, a ferret called Phoebe and saw lots of amazing animals - even a couple of dinosaurs!

A breakdown of this term's learning can be found here. Our Year 1 homework grid for Summer 2 can be found here.

Spring 2024

This term, our topic is 'Toys' and this will have a history focus. We will be looking into the toys that the children play with now, the toys they played with when they were babies, the toys their grandparents played with and toys from the Victorian Era. We will be introducing the children to the idea of living memory and creating a timeline that stretches back to the Victorian era. 

We will talk about the differences between modern toys and toys from the past; considering the materials they are made from and whether or not they use electricity. This will then link to our Design and Technology project of designing a winding toy. 

In maths, we are working on place value of numbers, first to 20, then progressing on to 50. We will also be developing our addition and subtraction skills. Later on in the term, we will work on measurement - length, weight, mass and volume.

Our first science topic this term is 'Everyday Materials'. We will be learning to identify and name common materials and conduct some experiments to test their properties, such as waterproof testing. After half term, we will be learning about Seasonal Changes, with a focus on changes as we move into Spring. We will be hoping for some sunny weather to get outside and observe the changes taking place!

In English, we have begun by retelling traditional tales such as Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs. We are then moving onto winter shape poems and then will go on a local area walk before writing a recount of our experience. 

Later in the term, we will be reading and comparing some Julia Donaldson books and writing our own stories.

Our music will focus on the interrelated dimensions of music such as pitch, tempo and timbre and we will be creating soundscapes for some characters from our traditional tales!

A breakdown of this term's learning can be found here. Our Year 1 homework grid for Spring 1 can be found here.