Year 1

We are very excited about the range of topics we will cover in Year 1 this year as they will provide the children with lots of engaging and hands-on experiences.

The engaging topics we study over the year enable the children to develop key knowledge and skills in all subjects through a cross-curricular, imaginative learning approach.

In mathematics, we begin by cementing children's understanding of numbers in order to “catch up” where they left off in their Reception year. We aim to ensure children have an understanding of concrete number problems and build children towards using the ‘Maths No Problem’ method which enables children to become more confident in using maths as it follows the same pattern every day. The children are given the opportunity to explore maths questions using their resources, share with others and then try some questions for themselves. They are challenged daily with maths problems and being able to explain their answer using the correct vocabulary. Each lesson, a child is awarded with ‘Mathematician of the Day’ which they get very excited about!

English lessons

take place daily and the children will learn to produce more detailed pieces of writing. We will place a heavy focus on the vocabulary children use, placing emphasis on “Wondrous Words” from our Book of the Week. They will learn to include - capital letters, full stops, finger spaces, neat handwriting and conjunctions. Children will become more confident in writing in different styles and checking their writing at the end of the lesson. Children are encouraged to use their RWI skills when spelling words in their writing and also when spelling unfamiliar words. Using exciting vocabulary is very important and we always collect a range of words that we can use in our writing each week.

Read Write Inc is our daily phonics program where the children work in small groups to practise their blending of sounds, reading of tricky words and spelling rules with the help of Fred Frog. They also use their knowledge of sounds and blending to read ‘nonsense’ words. We will further support children by providing extra Read, Write, Inc lessons on a one to one basis in order to aid children’s progress. As well as this, they are given the opportunity to use the weekly text to develop their comprehension skills.

What the teacher says:

Year 1 is such an important year for children and I look forward to going on such an important journey with our children. I am excited to watch them become wonderful writers and marvellous mathematicians as they grow throughout their learning adventure.

Mis French

The autumn term

5,4,3,2,1... BLAST OFF!

This half term, Year 1 will be exploring and learning all about space in 'Moon Zoom'.

We’ll travel through space to learn about the solar system. We’ll investigate an alien crash site, write an incident report and try to find the aliens who have landed. Where could they be? We’ll make models of the solar system and design spaceships, space buggies and space-related toys. Books and photographs will help us to learn about the first lunar landing and the astronauts who venture into space. Floor robots will be programmed to move around an alien landscape, and we will compose space sounds and dances. We’ll also explore satellite images, investigate rockets and use ICT to communicate our ideas and present our work.

At the end of our project, we’ll share our learning in a variety of different ways. We’ll read our exciting science-fiction stories aloud, sing space-themed songs and create an exhibition of our space models. It will be out of this world!

During this half term, we will also be looking at big cats, small rats, tiny fleas and buzzing bees as part of 'Paws, Claws and Whiskers'. We will discover that animals come in all shapes and sizes! Meeting an animal expert will allow us to ask and answer questions, share information about the pets we have at home and write animal information booklets. Year 1 will study animal artwork, draw detailed animal pictures to capture their special features and make collages, sculptures and prints. Famous animal fables will make us laugh, and we will have fun reading them aloud. We’ll spot similarities and differences between animals, look at different habitats around the world and investigate camouflage. Designing a zoo is even on the agenda!

At the end of our project, we’ll share our work by taking part in an exhibition of our amazing artwork and performances of animal songs, with musical accompaniment. We will also share our knowledge of animals and recite amusing rhymes that may include an animal noise or two!

Download our Year 1 topic knowledge organisers

What the children say:

I like to play with my friends and I like to write sounds on the whiteboards in phonics (Winnie). I enjoy playing shape games on the whiteboard (Roland). I like to paint in school in art (Elisha). The teachers make me feel safe in school (Sophia).