Year 1
Autumn 2, 2024
Welcome back! We hope you had a lovely half term break! We have lots of exciting learning planned for the next half term and we can't wait to get started.
Start time – 8:40am Pick-up time- 3:15pm
A fruit snack is provided every day for our Year 1 children. Alternatively, children may bring their own fruit (no bananas). Please ensure that your child brings a named water bottle to school each day and that sun cream is applied before coming to school. Also, please ensure all items of uniform are clearly labelled.
If you have any questions, concerns or worries, please contact me at year1@cpa.dsat.education and I will do my best to respond as soon as I can.
Please follow the link below to view information from the Year 1 Beginning of Year Welcome Meeting.
Please follow the link below to view information from the Key Stage 1 Reading Information Meeting.
We are continuing to deliver a program to all year groups at school called myHappymind. myHappymind is all based around helping children to understand how their brain works and to support them in developing positive skills and habits to be their very best selves!
Please click on the link below to access an overview of what the program entails.
myHappymind Parent information
Here is what we will be learning this half term:
Curriculum focus: Geography - Where are we in the world?
Our theme this half term will focus on developing our geographical knowledge, skills, and vocabulary. Through our study, we will learn that the United Kingdom has 4 countries and where they are located on a map. We will extend our learning by looking at the capital cities of the 4 UK countries and the seas that surround the UK. Furthermore, we will explore the human and physical features of Doncaster and Edenthorpe, paying attention to the local amenities.
English – Reading
As a school we follow the Read, Write, Inc programme to deliver our phonics teaching.
Please access the links below to learn how and why we teach phonics in our school.
What is Read, Write Inc Phonics?
We also have lots of information on our schools phonics page which you can access here.
English – Get Writing & Nibbles the Book Monster
Some of our writing this half term will be based on further developing sentence structure and how to build a successful sentence. We will focus on the use of capital letters, finger spaces and full stops, as well as ensuring sentences make sense to our reader.
Some of our writing this half term will be based on the book Nibbles The Book Monster by Emma Yarlett.
Nibbles, the book-eating MONSTER, has nibbled his way out of his own book and now he's causing mischief and mayhem in other people's stories! Look out!
We will engage in a variety of writing opportunities, including a recount, list writing and a diary entry.
Spelling
We use our Read Write Inc. phonics knowledge to help us to spell when we are writing. Some words do not follow our spelling rules and we just have to learn them. The link below shows the words which appear frequently in our reading and writing. Year 1 are working towards being able to read and write these words by the end of the year 1.
Maths
This half term we will be developing our knowledge of numbers within 20 and addition and subtraction within 20.
We will focus on knowing and remembering our Key Instant Recall Facts (KIRFs). More information about our school KIRFs can be found here Our Maths Page.
Please click on the link below for Year 1 KIRFs (Key Instant Recall Facts), we are currently working on Autumn 2. By the end of this half term, children should know number bonds for each number up to 6.
Year 1 Autumn Key Instant Recall Facts
If you have any questions about these areas of Maths please do not hesitate to come and speak to us.
Please click the link below for a game to play with children to support with their one more, one less instant recall facts.
R.E. – Christmas - What does Christmas matter to Christians?
In RE, we will study Christianity and explore the question 'What does Christmas matter to Christians?' We will learn to re-tell the Christmas story and explore ways in which Christians use the story of the nativity to guide their beliefs and actions at Christmas. We will also think about things we have to be thankful for at Christmas time.
Science – Human Body & Senses and Seasonal Changes
Human Body & Senses
In our learning we will learn to:
- identify, name, draw and label at least 10 basic parts of the human body
- identify, name, draw and label basic parts of the human body and say which part of the body is associated with which sense
Seasonal Changes
In our learning we will learn to:
- identify which animals share our space in autumn
- identify trees that shed their leaves in early winter and trees that do not shed their leaves in early winter
D&T– Textiles - Puppets
In our lessons, our learning will focus on templates and joining techniques. We will first design a Christmas puppet using a template before making our masterpiece. We will then join fabrics together using pins, staples or glue. Finally, we will decorate our puppet to match our original design.
Computing – Online Safety
In our computing lessons this half term, we will learn about online safety, including useful tips to stay safe when online and how to manage feelings and emotions when someone or something has upset us online. We will learn about the responsibility we have as online users and explore the idea of a 'digital footprint.'
P.E. – Gymnastics and Dance
In PE, our focus is gymnastics and dance. In this unit, we will develop our agility and coordination. We will understand how the body changes during exercise; plan, perform, and repeat sequences of movement; and develop the fundamentals of movement.
Our PE day is Tuesday. Please ensure that your child brings their correct (named) P.E. kit to school on that day to change into after lunch. For health and safety reasons, please can children remove jewellery on PE day or provide plasters to cover earrings if this is not possible and ensure long hair is tied back away from the face.
P.S.H.E. - Celebrate/ Living in the wider world - Our Communities
In our my Happy mind module we will learn more about what our brain. We will discover what Character Strengths are and how they make us unique and special. We will focus on 5 Character Strengths and what they mean: Love and Kindness; Bravery and Honesty; Exploring and Learning; Teamwork and Friendship; Love of Life and Our World. Furthermore, we will develop our understanding that the best way to learn more about our strengths is to notice them. That our strengths are like superpowers, and when we use them, they helps us to be our best and feel happy. We will understand that it is nice to tell other people when they use their strengths, as it makes them feel good.
We will also focus on the theme of Living in the Wider World. We will develop our understanding of what makes our school a happy place to be. We will learn why we have rules and how they help us learn and be happy; how to behave appropriately and how to contribute to school life; to appreciate how important school is to us; and identify our special people in school.
Music - My musical heartbeat
Our music theme is 'Christmas Production' music. We will learn that songs to perform in our Christmas nativity and think about their pulse and rhythm.
NUMBOTs – Every day 10 minutes
NumBots is an on-line programme to boost addition and subtraction skills. It is available on a range of devices, you can play online at Numbots Game or download the Numbots app. Playing little and often will significantly improve your child’s recall and understanding of number bonds and addition and subtraction facts. These are critical foundations in maths so we are excited by the impact Numbots will have. In order to get the best out of NumBots children should regularly play for short bursts of time over the week. Children will receive a golden ticket for accessing their Numbots for 15minutes or more each week.
If you have misplaced your log in details or are having trouble accessing the website, please email me to let me know.
READING – Every day 10 minutes
Please continue to enjoy your reading each day. Reading is fun and a great way to spend time together with your family, as well as developing our imaginations. Encourage your child to talk about what they have read and ask them a question or two about the book. This will help consolidate their comprehension work in school. Adults, please remember to record what your child reads at home in their reading record. We will count all entries in the reading diaries and award golden tickets to those who have read 20 times or more in a month.
Please send your child's reading book and reading record to school each day. We love to hear the children read in school and this will support us to promote reading throughout the day.
Our book change day is Friday.
OXFORD OWL – One book a week
Oxford Owl is an e-book library to boost reading skills. Once your book has been read there is a short fun quiz to complete afterwards. Children will receive a golden ticket for every book they complete. Click on the link below to access Oxford Owl;
Oxford Owl for School and Home.
If you have misplaced your log in details or are having trouble accessing the website, please email me to let me know.
As always, thank you for your continued support with your child’s learning.
Mrs Slack - Teacher
Mrs Holmes, Mrs Westwood and Mrs Jones - LSA's