Year 1HC

In English this term we are using Talk 4 Writing to help retell poems, stories and information texts. After that, 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 and write a recount of our trip to Bridgewater hall. 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, forwards. Also, we will cover Place value to 100, Money and Time. For numbers 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, this 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.   

Our new 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. 

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

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. 

P.E takes place every Monday for the next 5 weeks with a gymnastics coach and outdoor P.E. will be on a Thursday with Mrs Burton. 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. 

Homework is sent out every Thursday. Please return your homework books to school every Monday. The homework will be in the form of a menu. Children only need to complete one task each week. This term they will be getting 10 spellings to practise, 5 tricky words and 5 that contain the phonics sounds we’ve been learning.  

In the first week of June, after the next half term holiday, children will have their Phonics Screening. This is a government test to check if children know their phonics sounds and ensure they can read fluently. It consists of 40 words which includes alien (nonsense) words that children need to sound out and blend accurately. They will get a score out of 40 which you will be able to see in the end of the year reports. If your child does not pass they can retake it in year 2. 

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 Thursday so we can change their book and return them on the same day. 

Water bottles – please ensure your child has a water bottle in school every day, especially as the weather continues to get hotter. 

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

We use ClassDojo as a form of communication and there will be weekly posts about what your children have been doing. If your child is ill or will not be coming in for any reason, please contact the school office as well as messaging on ClassDojo. You can use ClassDojo to ask any questions or raise concerns but please feel free to speak to either Mrs Cumberbatch, Miss Cunningham, Miss Izzy or Ms Bunmi (1HC) or Miss Thomas or Ms Bizzari (1ST) in person. 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.