Year 1HC

In Literacy this term, we are using Talk 4 Write to help retell poems, stories and information texts. We will be looking at The Avocado Baby story to help us with our fiction writing skills. The focus will be on changing the fruit/vegetable that the baby eats and the special quality it gains from eating it, which links with our DT topic this term of Cooking and Nutrition: Fruits and Vegetables. We will further look at The Chocolate Monster story, where we will be learning these texts off by heart and rehearsing them using actions. Our focus this term continues to be letter formation, finger spaces, making sure our writing makes sense, capital letters and full stops. We are also working on putting our phonics sessions into practice by remembering the spellings for our tricky words and using our sounds to spell words phonetically.

During Maths this term, we are working on Multiplication and Division, counting in 2s, 5s and 10s before dividing by grouping and sharing. After this, we will be moving onto Fractions where we will be recognising and finding a half and a quarter. Next, we will be looking at Geometry: Position and Direction, which involves describing turns and the position of objects using left, right, backwards, and forwards. Also, we will cover Place value to 100, Money and Time. For numbers up to 100, we will be looking at the value of each number and where the numbers are placed on a number line. We will be practising counting forwards and backwards to 100. Also, we will be looking at representing numbers in different ways using various equipment. For Money children will be recognising and counting coins and notes. In Time children will be looking at before, after, days of the week, months of the year, hours, minutes, seconds and telling the time to the hour and half past the hour. It would be great to get your children practising by telling the time on a clock to prepare them as well. We will continue embedding a mastery approach to our Maths learning, which includes one lesson a week that is focused on improving and securing our knowledge of number facts that will help children’s recall so they can work out their answers quicker.

In Topic this term is Toys and schools. We will be building on children’s own experiences of their toys and that some things, like toys, were different in the past. It would be great if you could share your experiences of different toys you played with as a child with your children. They will be learning to order and compare toys from Victorian and modern times. We will also look and compare how things have changed within the house, across schools from different eras and the development of transport and cars over time.

In Science, we will be learning all about Plants. We will be learning about the different parts of a plant including roots, stem, leaves and petals. We will learn about the different parts of a tree, including roots, trunk, branches and leaves. Then the children will be taught to name and know a variety of common and wild plants. To work scientifically, we will be investigating what plants need to grow and be healthy. During this, we will plant our own plants, which children will be able to take home to look after.

This half-term in PSHE, our focus will be RSE. We will look at our families, learn about our differences and embrace them. Then we will learn the scientific names for our private body parts and how we can keep ourselves safe.

P.E takes place every Monday and Tuesday for 1HC and every Monday and Friday for 1EB. Please ensure that your child has their P.E kit in school. The P.E kit is a plain white t-shirt, black shorts or leggings and a pair of black trainers which can be worn as part of their school uniform. It is very important your child has the correct uniform to ensure safety on the equipment.

The homework menu is to be completed over the term. Please choose one option from the menu to complete each week with your child. Spellings are sent out every Monday. Please return your homework books to school every Monday and Wednesday. The homework will be in the form of a menu. Children will need to learn the spellings set for a test on a Thursday. You can also access games on www.phonicsplay.com and www.topmarks.com to help support your child with their learning.

Please also ensure that your child is reading for at least 10 minutes every day (of your child’s banded/coloured reading book which is one level below their class reading level to support their fluency and enjoyment). Please ensure you sign their reading records otherwise we cannot change their book and your child brings their book bag into school every Monday and Wednesday so we can change their book and return them on the same day.

School opening times: School now opens at 8:40am and the gates close at 8:50am, please ensure your children are in for a prompt 8:50am start.

Water bottles: Please ensure your child has a water bottle in school every day, especially as the weather gets hotter.

Fruit: Fruit and milk is provided every day for a morning snack. However, children can bring in their own piece of fruit to eat during this time if they wish.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to speak to either Mrs Cumberbatch, Mr Warner – Friday teacher, Miss Cunningham (1HC) or Miss Biddle or Mrs Thelwell (1EB). We are always happy to support you in any way we can and are available before and after school.

We’re looking forward to continuing our fantastic year with your children.

The Year 1 Team