Year 1

Autumn 2023

We have had an amazing start to Year 1 and we are so impressed with how the children have accessed all the new areas in our transformed classroom!

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 'The Gingerbread Man' and 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt', as stimuli for developing our descriptive language and practising 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 is all about changing seasons and will focus on Autumn and the changes that take place in plant and animal life. After half term, we will be learning about different animal groups and the common features of the creatures within those groups.

In addition to all of that, we will of course be having fun with music, RE, PE, computing, art and life skills, 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 Ship Ahoy! 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 geographical vocabulary as we go... but beware- watch out for pirates!

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 - and of course, the Pirate Pants Shop will once again be open for business!

Much of our English will be based on pirate texts such as The Pirates Next Door and Pirates Love Underpants, and we will be using these as a stimulus for grammar and spelling work. We have already written pirate countdown poems based on Ten Little Pirates to practice our ing verbs. We will also be writing non-fiction texts based on real pirates.

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 sunflowers. Let's hope for lots of summer sunshine to help them grow! A full outline of the learning this term can be found here.

Spring 2023

This term, our topic is My Home, My Town, My World. This will have a geography focus, learning about our school and the surrounding area. We have already combined maths, geography and PE to learn about position and direction, and write instructions to move around the PE apparatus! We have also taken our class puppets Dillon and Gloria on a walk around school, thinking about the direction we need to go from one place to another. We will be using maps to zoom in on the local area to identify features, and will learn a bit of local history along the way. After half term, we will learn about the UK, naming the four countries and their capital cities. We will use maps to locate the different places.

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 and capacity.

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 writing some fabulous winter shape poems. To link with science, we are reading The Three Little Pigs, and will also be looking at other traditional and fairy tales. We will be learning about features of tales, and writing some of our own. Later in the term, we will be reading and comparing some Julia Donaldson books and writing our own stories.

There will be lots of art and music, as well as building Rapunzel's tower in DT! A full breakdown of our learning this term can be found here.